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Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

#91

Post by Clubber »

am1988 wrote: post #28
Clubber wrote: post #5

I use to hate this guy, then I saw the Vice interview on him. It was nice to see his side of the story. I don't know much about this case in particular. It was kinda sleazy to see the congress question him about his price increases when they knew damn well it was perfectly legal and they haven't done anything to stop it. Shkreli seems to be trying to expose this hypocrisy, but the news loves their stories. Vice inter…

Of course they are legal. It doesn't make him any better as a person.

So here is why it's important to take Shkreli down. Congress gets paid lots of money to not regulate pharmaceuticals. 13 democrats recently voted against a bill allowing the US to import Pharma from Canada, so it's both parties.

https://newrepublic.com/minutes/139825/cory-booker-not-frien...

Congress is in hot water over the cost of prescription drugs and they need to do something, and something fast ... as long as that isn't actually reducing the cost of prescription drugs, because, you know, donors. Shkreli is the perfect mark, or scapegoat for this because he has been quite vocal. Consider he isn't the only one doing this. Many (donating) Pharma companies do this yet are quiet about it.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/02/10/a-6000...

Anyway, if they take down Shkreli, congress looks like they are doing something, without actually doing anything. Notice they didn't take him down for his price gouging. Yes, that will continue to go on just as the donors planned. The masses are satisfied with their sacrifice. Carry on.

Re: Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

#92

Post by kbenson »

charlesdm wrote: post #75
kbenson wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, his fraud seems to fall into two categories. Lying about his fund's bonafides and status on one side, and working hard to make sure those same investors got what they were expecting by founding a company, making it successful and paying them out from the profits. It sounds like he definitely lied to investors, but he apparently didn't intend to steal their money, and took pains to make sure he did not…

I haven't followed everything closely, but did anyone lose money in the end?

The NY Times article[1] presented by an early top level comment implies that no, they didn't.

The investors who invested all made money — by the defense’s tally, more than triple what they invested.

1: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/business/dealbook/martin-...

Re: Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

#93

Post by CalChris »

kbenson wrote: post #50
swang wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Prosecutors argued that Shkreli lied to investors in two hedge funds and the pharmaceutical company Retrophin, all of which he founded. Shkreli told investors he graduated from Columbia University, that his hedge fund was large and profitable, and that he had hired an auditor, they said. These were all lies, according to prosecutors. yeah seems like a great dude...

Interestingly, his fraud seems to fall into two categories. Lying about his fund's bonafides and status on one side, and working hard to make sure those same investors got what they were expecting by founding a company, making it successful and paying them out from the profits. It sounds like he definitely lied to investors, but he apparently didn't intend to steal their money, and took pains to make sure he did not…

fraud != stealing

fraud wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain

stealing take (another person's property) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it

No, Shkreli didn't intend to steal their money since they gave it to him. However, he did in fact deceive them as to what he did with said money. So he was convicted of fraud.

Re: Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

#94

Post by defen »

I'd like someone to do a reading of Martin Shkreli as "satirist of neoliberalism", and suggest that the reason so many people hate him so much is that he's a scapegoat for our collective feelings of guilt. Can anyone offer a valid critique of his raising the price of Daraprim, within the frame of neoliberalism, that doesn't just reduce to "that guy's a real jerk!"?

Re: Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

#95

Post by Unbeliever69 »

tnecniv wrote: post #40
legohead wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The YouTube video of him doing an Ebay Analysis [1] was very interesting I thought, both from a technical point of view and another look at his character. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFSf5YhYQbw

Watching Excel power users is really fascinating.

Oh yeah, watching his Excel You Tube video puts me in awe! Can't tell you how many people I've recommended that video to!

Re: Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

#96

Post by binarymax »

discombobulate wrote: post #77

I quite like Martin. I talked to him a few time on YouTube, whilst he was live streaming. He's whip-smart & knowledgeable. He does, however, have a couple of major flaws. 1) He trolls. Hard. 2) It seems he lies. Which I picked up from a previous news article. (He claimed to have ~$50mm under management @ his previous hedge fund. It was more like $1.6mm. Something like that). I can forgive the trolling. It's over the…

Oh so his only two flaws are trolling and he lies. But he's OK sure. How about the fact that he caused the suffering of patients needing the drug that he was raised prices on?

Re: Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

#97

Post by fnovd »

sigmar wrote: post #82
Clubber wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, according to the NYT article, all investors tripled their money. "The investors who invested all made money — by the defense’s tally, more than triple what they invested."

It's not fraud if investors make money? Someone better tell Madoff that he's getting out.

The operative word here is "all."

Re: Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

#99

Post by 0xbear »

I think it's fair to say that Shkreli would be left to his own devices had he not shown the audacity to charge what the market will bear. Meanwhile another person who similarly jacked up the price of a lifesaving drug beyond what many could afford, Heather Bresch, received no negative legal attention whatsoever. Ever wonder why? Because her dad is Joe Manchin. The swamp needs draining so bad.

Re: Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud

#100

Post by [deleted] »

MichaelGG wrote: post #59
hellofunk wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One could argue that he hurt a lot of sick people by making it very difficult or impossible for them to afford the hundreds of percent price increases he laid upon the drugs he took control over. Edit: [0] "... it says that the drug is available for free to people with deep financial need. But Dr. Aberg has watched her patients have to "jump through the hoops" to get it. Patients have to prove both financial need and…

Is that true? He has repeatedly said that if they are paying for it directly, he will give it to them for free (or $1 or so?) -- that the prices were only for insurers. Certainly it should be easy to find people that got hurt and he denied to help, right? Also, this is the system's fault for giving a monopoly on a product to someone. Who knows how many other medicines are out there existing purely on someone's kindhe…

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