A U.S. judge yesterday permanently barred former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli from serving as an officer or director of publicly traded companies, and ordered him to pay a $1.39 million fine for violating securities law between 2009 and 2014, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto in Brooklyn issued her ruling in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's civil case alleging Shkreli defrauded investors in his hedge funds and raided his biotechnology company, Retrophin Inc, for funds to settle with investors. Shkreli had proposed a 10-year officer and director ban, arguing that his seven-year prison sentence and $7.8 million in forfeiture and penalties in his related criminal case were sufficient punishment. Shkreli became notorious and known as "Pharma Bro" in 2015, when he raised the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim overnight to $750 per tablet from $17.50 while serving as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, later renamed Vyera Pharmaceuticals. He was arrested that year on fraud and conspiracy charges connected to Retrophin and his MSMB Capital Management and MSMB Healthcare Management hedge funds.
