Hated pharma CEO Martin Shkreli calls fraud charges ‘baseless’

NEW YORK – Bad-boy pharmaceutical company executive Martin Shkreli says fraud allegations against him are “baseless and without merit.”

Shkreli tweeted Saturday: “I am confident I will prevail.”

The 32-year-old former hedge fund manager pleaded not guilty Thursday in Brooklyn federal court and was released on $5 million bail.

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READ MORE: Martin Shkreli resigns as Turing CEO after securities fraud arrest

Shkreli was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors say from 2009 to 2014, Shkreli lost some of his hedge fund investors’ money through bad trades, then looted a pharmaceutical company where he was CEO for $11 million to pay back his disgruntled clients.

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Shkreli was already widely reviled because a drug company he founded raised the price of a life-saving drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill.