Pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli was arrested by the FBI on Thursday for securities fraud, but the much-ballyhooed Wu-Tang album the millionaire purchased was not seized, and is still in his possession. He denied the charges and was freed on a US$5-million bond.
Shkreli, whom the FBI asserts ran his companies like a “Ponzi scheme,” sparked worldwide outrage for raising the price of a life-saving HIV pill by 5,000 per cent. Last Wednesday, he bought an elusive Wu-Tang clan album for US$2 million. (The New York rap collective revealed last year that it had recorded only one copy of a 31-track double-album entitled “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” kept in a vault with a leather-bound 174-page lyric book, waiting for a buyer.) No fans have ever heard the album.
MORE: No, Wu-Tang Clan and Bill Murray can’t steal back elusive rap album
The FBI’s New York branch tweeted yesterday that since there was no seizure warrant, the Wu-Tang album was not seized:
The U.S. Attorney, Robert L. Capers, told Time that they’re “not aware of where he got the funds to buy the Wu-Tang Clan album.”
As of this writing, its whereabouts are unknown.
WATCH: Robert L. Capers, the District Attorney for New York, announces the charges against pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, 32, who was arrested by the FBI as part of a securities fraud investigation early Thursday morning.