Can someone explain specifically what lies he told his investors to defraud them?
He claimed the fund was worth millions when it was really worth zero.
Except didn't it end up making investors much more?
Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
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Re: Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
#112Re: Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, but you are getting distracted by exactly what you were supposed to get distracted by. He was hated because he hiked drug prices (and he was a dick). The news jumped all over this story and he was a perfect scapegoat. Sadly, It's still perfectly legal to corner a drug and hike the prices. That was the bigger crime, and it continues to go on, costing taxpayers and patients millions if not billions of dollars, and…
Don’t assume that people who disagree with you are distracted or deluded.
He was arguing the wrong topic; whether or not Shkrelli got a just sentence. That's what we are supposed to be talking about; not the fact that it's legal to monopolize a drug then pursue monopolistic pricing practices on said drug. That's what Shkrelli was infamous for, not fraud.
I may or may not agree with the justness of the sentence, but that wasn't the thrust of my argument, therefore the distraction.
Re: Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is absolutely correct. There are shelves and shelves of laws that no one really knows. If someone wants to go after you, it won't take much research.
He didn't accidentally defraud people. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Yes, but that's not the point. The point is the US government has many ways of throwing people in jail it doesn't like, including me or you. That's doesn't equate with a free society.
Re: Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
... in the US, apparently.
Pretty much everywhere, if the justice system doesn’t reflect the population’s desire for mob justice, the people will administer it extrajudicially. The places with low bloodthirst traditionally have strong civic fabrics and low violent crime. If those things change the justice system will adapt or die.
Isn‘t this a chicken and egg problem? If people don‘t get to know court proceedings when they happen it doesn‘t give them more outrage and justice porn and calms down the overall atmosphere. To compare, Swiss people generally don‘t care about what happens in courts, they care about the next direct democractic vote (and get riled up about it sometimes), but I consider that at least more at the root of politics and not targeted at individuals.
Re: Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
That doesn't make his claims any less fraudulent.
While definitely immoral and risky I might abide by "no harm no foul" - no one was harmed in this, end sum is positive
That's not the way federal law works. Beneficial ends don't justify illegal means in the eyes of federal prosecutors.
Re: Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
#117Re: Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
#118I used to watch some of his investment tutorials on youtube as well as other videos. For someone called the "most hated man in America", he actually seemed like a nice person. I also enjoyed his trollish sense of humor.
Used to watch them as well, really bright guy, entirely self taught. I TA'd organic chem and he might have had a deeper understanding than I do.
He really needed to learn when to stop talking, and where to draw the line with his actions, sadly.
Re: Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
#119It does say something depressing about our laws that he got sent to prison for the thing where he lied to rich people while still making them money rather than the thing where he extorted sick poor people...which is still fully legal even if the majority of society thinks it shouldn't.
Another way to look at this is that he got a harsher sentence than he should have on the "stealing from the rich" part which is a crime, because he was so unpopular on the extorting the poor part which (sadly) isn't.
Whether that's how we would like the system to function is, of course, up for debate.
Re: Martin Shkreli has been sentenced to seven years in prison
#120Here's what we just witnessed. 1. Companies were cornering certain drugs, then hiking their prices up significantly. Shkrelli did the same thing (but stated he was willing to give it free for anyone who asked). Note, that this is not illegal in any way, but news was all over it and citizens were pissed. 2. Shkrelli, being outspoken, became the focus of this issue. He dug a hole for himself, but concerning drug prices…
3. .. tripled their money haha no... he LOST their money (All of it), LIED about it (fraud), and paid them back with OTHER funds. Get the facts right first. Misstated - information, the only misstatements are in your post.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-shkreli/investo...
(Reuters) - One of the investors former drug company executive Martin Shkreli is accused of defrauding testified on Wednesday that Shkreli lied to him repeatedly, although he eventually made millions of dollars from the investment.
This was apparently the guy who alerted investigators to the fraud. He made millions.