Disgraced pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has been ordered to forfeit his copies of the Wu-Tang Clan’s rare album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.” The request is part of a preliminary injunction issued Friday (August 23) by federal Judge Pamela Chen in a developing lawsuit, according to Billboard.
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Shkreli infamously garnered the nickname “Pharma Bro” back in 2015 after he increased the price of a life-saving medication for HIV patients by 4,000%. He also initiated a plan to block the entry of generic drug competition so he could receive profits as long as he possibly could.
In 2017, a federal jury found Shkreli guilty on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2018 and ordered to pay back all of the money he made from his scheme—which totaled around $64 million.
Shkreli was released from prison in 2022. After Friday’s hearing, Judge Chen granted the injunction to PleasrDAO—an art collective that purchased the album in 2021 after Shkreli was ordered to give it up as part of his criminal case.
Wu-Tang’s album was secretly recorded and published only once in CD format. In 2015, Shkreli purchased it at auction for $2 million. “Shaolin” had several stipulations which notably included that it could not be released to the general public until 2103.
However, Shkreli’s attorneys said their client had the right to “duplicate or replicate the work for private use.” After his conviction, the album was given to federal prosecutors to help pay his restitution sentence.
Pleasr then bought the album from the government in 2021 for $4 million. There were already restrictions that forbid Shkreli from sharing the album, but Chan has ruled that he must relinquish “all recordings of the Album’s contents that Defendant possesses or controls” to his own legal team.
The former executive has until Friday to confirm, in writing, that he has completed the request.
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