“Most Hated Man in America” Martin Shkreli Was Just Arrested for Alleged Securities Fraud

Craig Ruttle/AP

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Martin Shkreli, the 32-year-old pharmaceuticals executive who landed in the news in September for price-gouging a life-saving drug by a staggering 5,000 percent, was arrested on Thursday for alleged securities fraud.

Bloomberg reports federal agents arrested the Turing CEO at his Manhattan home. He is now being accused of taking money from a previous drug company he founded in 2011, Retrophin Inc., to cover unrelated debts.

The arrest comes just months after reports first surfaced accusing Shkreli of hiking the price of Daraprim, a parasite-killing drug used to treat patients with HIV or cancer, from $13.50 to $750 per pill. Outrage over the price hike prompted multiple headlines declaring him the “most hated man in America.”

Shkreli soon promised to drop the drug’s price to a “point that is more affordable” and that would allow the company to make a “very small profit.” It became quickly apparent, however, that he never intended to follow through on that promise:

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