Martin Shkreli Calls Fraud Charges 'Baseless'

He tweets he will 'prevail'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 19, 2015 4:30 PM CST
Martin Shkreli Calls Fraud Charges 'Baseless'
FILE - In this Dec. 17, 2015 file photo, Martin Shkreli, the former hedge fund manager under fire for buying a pharmaceutical company and ratcheting up the price of a life-saving drug, is escorted by law enforcement agents in New York after being taken into custody following a securities probe. Shkreli...   (Craig Ruttle)

Pharmaceutical company executive and Internet villain Martin Shkreli says fraud allegations against him are "baseless and without merit." Shkreli tweeted Saturday: "I am confident I will prevail." The 32-year-old former hedge fund manager pleaded not guilty Thursday in Brooklyn federal court and was released on $5 million bail. Shkreli was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors say from 2009 to 2014, Shkreli lost some of his hedge fund investors' money through bad trades, then looted a pharmaceutical company where he was CEO for $11 million to pay back his disgruntled clients. Shkreli was already widely reviled because a drug company he founded raised the price of a life-saving drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill. (More Martin Shkreli stories.)

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