Martin Shkreli Released on $5 Million Bail

Martin Shkreli, the controversial pharmaceutical entrepreneur, has been released from jail after agreeing to a $5 million bond package and processing pre-trial paperwork.

According to Reuters, Shkreli--who was arrested this morning as the culmination of a year-long investigation--was smiling at family members in a Brooklyn courtroom as a magistrate approved the terms of the bond. He did not answer questions, despite the gaggle of reporters who crowded the viewing area.

Shkreli has been charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy stemming from his actions at his former hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, and a biopharmaceutical company he helmed called Retrophin Inc. Investigators allege that the Shkreli operated each of his businesses as a "Ponzi-like scheme," where every subsequent venture was used to pay off defrauded investors from the prior one.

The outspoken Shkreli faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Both he and Evan Greebel, a lawyer who previously served as Retrophin's outside counsel and who was also indicted, entered not guilty pleas.

Though Shkreli came under fire this fall when Turing Pharmaceuticals, another company he operates, acquired and raised the price of an HIV and malaria drug by more than 5,000 percent, investigators would not speculate as to whether the price increase was motivated by a need to pay off other debts.

The FBI's New York bureau tweeted that they had not come into possession of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the supposed secret Wu-Tang Clan album that Shkreli purchased for $2 million, as the arrest warrant did not come accompanied by a seizure warrant.

(In addition to FBI officials and the NYPD, Shkreli was escorted from his midtown apartment this morning by members of the Securities and Exchange Commission.)

Shkreli recently made headlines in the rap world due to his suggestion that he might bail out Bobby Shmurda, the Brooklyn rapper who has been in jail since last December after he was arrested and charged with a litany of drug and weapons offenses.

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