The first substantive note from jurors in Martin Shkreli’s fraud trial asked on Tuesday about assets under management and what “fraudulent intent” meant, the New York Times reported today. The jurors had been deliberating for more than a day and a half in Shkreli’s trial in the Federal District Court in Brooklyn. The questions were: “Do assets under management refer to a particular fund being described, or to all assets managed by the portfolio manager/general partner?” They also asked for a legal definition of assets under management. And they asked for an expansion or elaboration of the term “fraudulent intent,” a key to the defense’s arguments that Shkreli is innocent. Shkreli is charged with eight counts of securities and wire fraud. Prosecutors argued he lied to investors in two hedge funds, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare, by making claims like the one that he was using a specific auditor and law firm, when he wasn’t. He sent them fake statements showing their money was growing, when in fact the accounts for the funds were nearly empty.
