Former pharmaceutical company executive Martin Shkreli and his lead attorney Benjamin Brafman arrive at U.S. District Court for the fourth day of jury deliberations in his securities fraud trial in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., August 3, 2017.
Amr Alfiky | Reuters
The Federal Trade Commission and seven states on Tuesday asked a federal judge to hold notorious “pharmaceutical brother” Martin Shkreli in contempt, alleging he “flagrantly and repeatedly violated” a 2022 civil court order that banned him for life from the pharmaceutical industry.
The FTC and the states allege that Shkreli, since his release from prison in May 2022, has violated that court order by publicly trading at least 60 pharmaceutical industry stocks and “broadcasting his opinions on the business and management of numerous pharmaceutical industry companies,” according to a press release.
The contempt complaint asks a judge to order Shkreli to “dispose of all shares of a pharmaceutical company that he currently owns” and to “pay a fine equal to his profits from any trading in shares of a pharmaceutical company (plus prejudgment interest) without being able to account for compensatory losses.”
The filing also requests that a judge force Shkreli “to face clear and escalating consequences for any future violations, including financial penalties and possible incarceration.”
FTC Commissioner Mark Meador said in a statement: “A lifetime industry ban is only effective if violations result in consequences proportionate to the severity of the order. »
The court order follows a finding that Shkreli organized an anti-competitive scheme to perpetuate his company’s monopoly on the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim. Shkreli had increased the price of Daraprim from $17.50 per pill to $750 per pill.
In addition to banning him for life from the pharmaceutical industry, a judge ordered Shkreli to return more than $64 million.
The civil case that led to the order is unrelated to the criminal case that ended with Shkreli’s conviction in 2017 on securities fraud charges related to hedge funds he once ran and another pharmaceutical company he founded. Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in federal prison in 2018 and was released in 2022 with credit for time served before his conviction and other factors.
“After a full trial, the court found that Martin Shkreli’s conduct raised the price of prescription drugs for American patients and blocked the entry of lower-cost generic drugs,” Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said Tuesday.
“When a judgment is entered by a court, whether it is a settlement or an order following a trial, the defendants must fulfill their obligations,” Guarnera said. “Today’s action should serve as a signal that the FTC will not hesitate to sanction violations of court orders.”
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