http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-23/
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Martin Shkreli Asks Court to Quash Congressional Subpoena
Christie Smythe
ChristieSmythe
January 23, 2016 — 10:36 AM EST
Updated on January 23, 2016 — 1:45 PM EST
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Former executive's lawyers petition federal judge for help
Shkreli subpoenaed to testify at drug pricing hearing Jan. 26
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Martin Shkreli, the former biotechnology executive facing accusations of securities fraud, wants a federal judge to step in and help him avoid being charged with contempt if he doesn’t appear at a congressional hearing next week.
Shkreli’s lawyers are seeking “guidance” from U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn regarding a subpoena he received to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at a hearing on drug pricing Jan. 26. The committee said it would pursue criminal contempt charges against him if he doesn’t attend, attorney Marcus Asner said in a letter to the judge.
The terms of Shkreli’s $5 million bail package don’t allow him to travel. The former executive, who rose to infamy last year after raising the price of a life-saving drug by more than 5,000 percent, has said he plans to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights. The constitutional amendment protects against self-incrimination.
Bail Terms
Shkreli’s lawyers asked Matsumoto to quash or delay the congressional subpoena “if the court decides that Mr. Shkreli may not leave the eastern and southern districts of New York in order to attend the committee hearing,” according to the filing.
Spokeswomen for Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, and Congressman Elijah Cummings from Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, didn’t immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.
Shkreli received the congressional subpoena on Jan. 12 and has so far made no attempt to request permission from the court to modify his bail terms to allow travel to Washington. The 32-year-old founder of hedge funds and drug companies, notoriously outspoken on social media, tweeted to lawmakers Friday “You want me to go to DC to just say ‘I plead the 5th’? For your entertainment?”
US ATTNY MANUAL 9-11.154. You want me to go to DC to to just say "I plead the 5th"? For your entertainment? @jasoninthehouse @RepCummings
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) January 22, 2016
Shkreli’s “attendance in person under these circumstances would only serve to subject Mr. Shkreli to embarrassment and obloquy without serving any of the legitimate tasks of Congress,” his lawyers told the congressional committee, according to their letter to Matsumoto.
Ponzi Scheme
Prosecutors accuse Shkreli of defrauding investors in hedge funds he founded and attempting to pay them off by taking millions of dollars in assets from Retrophin Inc., a biotechnology company he also started. In a news conference following Shkreli’s Dec. 17 arrest, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said the executive “essentially ran his companies like a Ponzi scheme.”
Evan Greebel, a New York lawyer arrested the same day, was charged with helping Shkreli hide the alleged fraud. Both men have pleaded not guilty. Greebel is free on a $1 million bond.
Ousted by Retrophin in 2014, Shkreli stepped down as chief executive officer from another company he founded, Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, after his arrest. Another company, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc., fired him as CEO after the arrest and sought bankruptcy protection in late December. Investors have sued that company to recover $5.4 million.
‘Pharma Bro’
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is pursuing a civil case against Shkreli over the fraud allegations in Brooklyn federal court. He’s also being sued by Retrophin for $65 million over claims he misappropriated assets and used “sham” consulting agreements to settle legal disputes. Both cases are pending.
Shkreli, who is seeking new legal counsel, told a New York television news reporter in a Jan. 17 interview at his Manhattan apartment that the criminal charges against him were “fictitious.” He also disputed the moniker “pharma bro,” which has been used in the media to refer to him in the wake of the price gouging controversy over the drug Daraprim. The more than 60-year-old drug is used to treat a parasitic infection that can be deadly for AIDS patients and other people with compromised immune systems.
Shkreli initially defended the move to raise the price of the drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill, saying it was a bargain even at the higher price, since it can save a patient’s life within a limited amount of time. He later said he would lower the cost, then backed away from that promise.
Although the criminal case against Shkreli has nothing to do with drug pricing, his lawyers told the committee that answering questions about Daraprim may open him up to criminal liability because of ongoing probes by the Federal Trade Commission and New York attorney general.
Turing Pharmaceuticals, the company which sells Daraprim, said Friday that its chief commercial officer, Nancy Retzlaff, will testify at the house committee hearing.
The criminal case is U.S. v. Shkreli, 15-cr-00637, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).
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