Ponzi genius back in the news

Arrested+by+FBI+agents+in+2015%2C+young+entrepreneur+Martin+Shkreli+walks+out+of+his+Manhattan+apartment+to+look+his+many+years+of+fraud+schemes+in+the+eye.+News+of+Shkreli%E2%80%99s+future+trial+has+brought+America%E2%80%99s+attention+back+to+the+schemer.+

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Arrested by FBI agents in 2015, young entrepreneur Martin Shkreli walks out of his Manhattan apartment to look his many years of fraud schemes in the eye. News of Shkreli’s future trial has brought America’s attention back to the schemer.

Emma McDonald, Staff Reporter

 If you have ever heard of the Ponzi Scheme, Martin Shkreli has taken it to a whole new level. At age 32, Martin Shkreli was already the CEO of his own company, Turing Pharmaceuticals AG; not to mention his previous good fortune of interning for Jim Cramer of “Mad Money” when he was just 17. Unfortunately for him and his investors, Shkreli is a scammer. Arrested and charged last December, Shkreli denied fraud charges and was released on a $5 million bond. However, recent events have caused stir in gossip about Shkreli and the fate of his sentence.

 Shkreli’s talent of scheming was not the only thing that caused such outrage from Americans and businessmen. Last year, Shkreli raised the price of Daraprim which is used to treat toxoplasmosis by 5,500 percent, marking a jump in sticker price from $13.50 to $750 in just 24 hours. Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by the gondii parasite and is much more susceptible to pregnant women, babies, and those with HIV. That following February, Shkreli refused to testify before a Congressional committee that was investigating drug price increase. Politicians such as Hillary Clinton attempted to fix drug price gouging, to which Shkreli replied that he would raise the prices higher because his investors expect him to maximize his profits. Although hiking the price of vital drugs caused criticism for the young entrepreneur, it was the not the cause of his legal charges.

 To put it into perspective, Martin Shkreli is fraudulent. Shkreli was charged with repeatedly losing his investor’s money and lying to them about it while illegally obtaining assets from one of his companies in order to pay off debts in another. Such schemes have dated back to 2010, when Shkreli lost clients $3 million dollar investment in a new fund: MSMB Capital. This also continued into 2011 when he bet shares of Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. would fall. In return, Shkreli ended up owing $7 million dollars to his broker, Merrill Lynch, which was paid off by using money from his next firm. Not only was Shkreli a con artist, but he was also careless. While still having to owe investors money, Shkreli paid millions of dollars on the only copy of a Wu-Tang Clan album, which he did not listen to.

 Along with Shkreli, NY lawyer Evan Greeber was also arrested by the FBI and charged for aiding Shkreli in his many schemes. Additionally, the firm Greebel works for launched its own internal investigation. Due to holes in the laws of business, Shkreli was arrested almost 2 years after the FBI began the investigation back in 2014.

 While it is pretty evident that Martin Shkreli committed multiple crimes, there are those who believe what he did was legal, whether it was morally right or wrong. The multiple loopholes in America’s justice and economic system makes it no surprise if Shkreli walks away not guilty. Sophomore Cole Powell notices a pattern in these loopholes: “I think the holes in our laws allow this to happen. It seems like the same kind of thing has been happening with Donald Trump and his income taxes. Just because it may be legal does not make it right.” The investigation is still ongoing for the FBI to uncover any missing pieces of the Ponzi puzzle Shkreli has created. Shkreli’s trial is set for June 26 of next year.