Judge Permanently Bans 'Chaotic' and 'Untrustworthy' Martin Shkreli From Running Public Companies Shkreli had asked for a 10-year officer and director restriction.
By Amanda Breen
Infamous 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli will never sit at the helm of a public company again. On Wednesday, a U.S. judge permanently banned the former pharmaceutical executive from acting as an officer or director of public companies, Reuters reports, and also fined him $1.39 million for violating securities law between 2009 and 2014.
U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn issued her ruling in the Securities and Exchange Commission's civil case, alleging Shkreli swindled investors in his hedge fund and siphoned funds from his biotechnology company Retrophin to pay back those investors.
In 2015, Shkreli was the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, where he gained notoriety for inflating the price of life-saving parasitic drug Daraprim overnight to $750 per tablet from $17.50. Later that year, he was arrested on fraud and conspiracy charges related to Retrophin and his MSMB Capital Management and MSMB Healthcare Management hedge funds. He was convicted of securities fraud and conspiracy in 2017 and received a seven-year sentence, which he's currently serving at a low-security prison in Allenwood, PA.
Related: 'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli Arrested on Securities Fraud Charges
Shkreli had asked for a 10-year officer and director restriction, claiming that his prison sentence and $7.8 million in forfeiture and fines in his associated criminal case were punishment enough. But Matsumoto called Shkreli a "chaotic, dishonest, and untrustworthy corporate leader" who would likely break the law again if given the chance to lead a public company in the future.
Last month, a federal judge in Manhattan permanently barred Shkreli from the drug industry and fined him $64.6 million.
Shkreli will be eligible for release in November of this year.
