U.S. prosecutors consider more charges against ex-CEO Shkreli

By David Ingram

(Reuters) – Former drug executive Martin Shkreli, who last year became a lightning rod for outrage over soaring prescription drug prices, may face additional U.S. charges of securities fraud, a federal prosecutor said on Tuesday.

More charges related to Shkreli’s involvement with biopharmaceutical company Retrophin Inc could be filed within a month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Paes said at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn, New York.

Shkreli, 33, sparked outrage among patients, medical societies and U.S. lawmakers after another company he ran, Turing Pharmaceuticals, raised the price of the drug Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent to $750 a pill.

In December, U.S. authorities arrested him on fraud charges unrelated to the pricing of Daraprim, saying he ran his investment funds and companies almost like a Ponzi scheme. He stepped down from Turing and was fired from KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Shkreli has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer Benjamin Brafman told reporters after Tuesday’s court hearing that he did not believe additional charges would change the case. After the hearing and on Twitter, Shkreli said he did not commit a crime and he agreed with a Twitter user who said Shkreli would not get a fair trial.

Lawyers at the hearing discussed possible trial dates late this year or in early 2017 for Shkreli and for Evan Greebel, a lawyer charged in the same case. Greebel has pleaded not guilty.