The 38-year-old entrepreneur, who is well known as Pharma Bro, previously bragged about forking out $2 million in 2015 at auction for 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin'.
- Jul 28, 2021
AceShowbiz - Martin Shkreli had to bid farewell to Wu-Tang Clan's 7th album that he bought more than five years ago. "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin", which was forfeited after his securities fraud conviction, reportedly has been sold by the U.S government to pay his forfeiture debt.
The album was sold on Tuesday, July 27 to an unknown buyer for an undisclosed sum. However, prosecutors claimed it was enough to fully satisfy the rest of Shkreli's $7.4 million forfeiture money judgment.
Announcing the sale of the album was Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Jacquelyn M. Kasulis. "Through the diligent and persistent efforts of this Office and its law enforcement partners, Shkreli has been held accountable and paid the price for lying and stealing from investors to enrich himself. With today's sale of this one-of-a-kind album, his payment of the forfeiture is now complete," Kasulis stated.
Shkreli, who is also known as Pharma Bro, bought "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" in 2015 at auction. He previously bragged about forking out $2 million to purchase the album, which was marketed as "both a work of art and an audio artifact" at that time.
By the purchase, it means that the album could not be commercially exploited. However, Shkreli allegedly allowed people to hear the 31-track double album at his parties. Christie Smythe, a journalist who once revealed she's dating the entrepreneur, also divulged that "every woman who had been to [his] apartment had probably heard the album."
Christie also reacted to the album sale in a since-deleted tweet. "Well someone else has it now... so stop complaining about him having it," she argued.
The disgraced pharmaceutical executive once attempted to sell the album online in September 2017, just weeks after his conviction. He was convicted of lying to investors and cheating them out of millions of dollars in two failed hedge funds he operated and is now serving seven years in prison.
