Shkreli found guilty of three out of eight charges

Martin Shkreli, former pharmaceutical chief executive of Retrophin, has been found guilty of three counts of securities fraud by a New York City jury but has declared it an ‘astounding victory’ on YouTube.

The jury acquitted Shkreli of five other counts after they had deliberated for five days, reported the BBC. “This was a witch hunt of epic proportions,” Shkreli said outside court. “And maybe they found one or two broomsticks but at the end of the day we've been acquitted of the most important charges in this case and I'm delighted to report that.”

Shkreli, also known as ‘Pharma Bro’ in the media, hit fame two years ago when he raised the price of a drug, called Daraprim, by 5,000% overnight, causing outrage as no other generic options of the therapy were available as an alternative.

This price hike, however, was not illegal, it was in fact Shkreli’s ‘mismanagement’ of investments that led him to the courtroom. According to a report from Reuters his convictions relate to the defrauding of investors in his two failed hedge funds — MSMB Capital Management and MSMB Healthcare Management — where he hid trading losses with fake account statements. However, he was acquitted of other charges, including a conspiracy to steal $11 million from the pharma company he founded, Retrophin.

William Sweeney, an FBI investigator, told the BBC he was happy about the conviction and that Shkreli had ‘misled investors in his self-indulgent scheme’.

The charges that Shkreli has been found guilty of may potentially lead to him being imprisoned for 20 years, however, it will be the judge’s decision on the sentencing for this case, which is to be decided at a later date.