This might sound a bit bleak for some light reading. but it is the nature of society that most people will not get what they deserve. The ultra-wealthy accrue vast amounts of money at a rate that is wildly disproportionate to the amount of work they do, often by exploiting – if not actively screwing over – people who work much harder than they do. The super rich exploit the planet and the people on it with impunity and we all accept it as a fact of life, because we know we have to. They run companies into the ground and escape untouched, sometimes even better off, with golden parachutes. They swindle millions of dollars from shareholders and escape with light white collar sentences that trifle in comparison to those of people with minor drug or larceny convictions. This is why we love the story of Martin Shkreli so much.
While diabolical, Shkreli’s wildly unethical 5000% price hike of a drug used in AIDS treatment is nothing new. We all know that pharmaceutical companies do this all the time. We all know that Shkreli being taken down does nothing to fix the problem. But, for once, we finally get to one of these people face the consequences of their actions – and it couldn’t have happened to someone with a more punchable face.
In case you had understandably completely purged this awful weasel-man from your brain, here’s a bit of a refresher: not long after the Daraprim incident, Shkreli was arrested by the FBI after being charged with securities fraud. His trial faced difficulty when it became clear that just about every person brought forward as a potential juror already knew who he was and already thought he was the fucking worst. He was ultimately convicted on fraud charges.
In yet another fantastic turn of events, in the process of criminal sentencing, Shkreli has had his prized copy of Wu-Tang‘s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin (the only one in existence) seized by a US federal court.
As the Guardian is reporting, the record (which cost him around $2 million USD) has been seized as part of a larger seizure of $7.36 million USD of his assets, which include a Picasso painting and the unreleased Lil Wayne album Tha Carter V.
Shkreli is due to be sentenced March 9, where hopefully he will be permanently exiled into space.
