Prosecutor: Martin Shkreli repeatedly lied to investors
NEW YORK — Wealthy investors say former biotech CEO Martin Shkreli told them he was managing tens of millions of dollars’ worth of investments, that they were making double-digit returns and they could withdraw their money at any time.
Prosecutors in closing arguments Thursday at Shkreli’s securities fraud trial said it was all a brazen con. The defence countered that no one should feel sorry for the alleged victims because they were high-rollers who ended up doubling or tripling their money.
Shkreli, 34, is best known for jacking up the price of a life-saving drug and trolling his critics on social media, but his trial in Brooklyn has focused on his time running a pair of hedge funds.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alixandra Smith told jurors Shkreli “lied to investors to get their money into the funds and then lied to them so they wouldn’t take it out.”