Feds want to seize Martin Shkreli's Wu-Tang Clan album
Federal prosecutors are asking a court to confiscate millions of dollars worth of assets belonging to former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, including a Wu-Tang Clan album.
Shkreli, best known for his company's jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug, was convicted in August in an unrelated securities fraud scheme involving two failed hedge funds.
In a letter filed this week in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors told a judge that Shkreli is on the hook for $7.3 million. The 34-year-old "should be held financially responsible and forfeit this amount as it was obtained by him as a result of the fraud," they said.
Along with the Wu-Tang Clan album, "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin," for which Shkreli reportedly paid $2 million, prosecutors say Shkreli should give up $5 million in cash in a brokerage account, his interest in drugmaker Turing Pharmaceuticals and other valuables, including a Picasso painting and another unreleased recording that he claims he owns, "Tha Carter V" by Lil Wayne.
Defense attorney Ben Brafman said on Friday that Shkreli would fight the forfeiture request.
"Our position is clear: None of the investors lost any money, and Martin did not personally benefit from any of the counts of conviction," Brafman said in a statement. "Accordingly, forfeiture of any assets is not an appropriate remedy."
In September, a judge revoked Shkreli's $5 million bail and threw him behind bars after he offered a $5,000 bounty on Facebook for a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair. He's due back in court for sentencing in January, when the forfeiture demand will be decided.
