League of Legends team exec, pharma villain arrested on securities fraud charges

Martin "Cerebral" Shkreli made international news earlier this year when he bumped up the price of an important pharmaceutical drug by nearly 5,500 percent. Shkreli, chairman of the League of Legends Team Imagine, was in the news again when he purchased the only copy of Wu-Tang Clan's latest album, and then bragged about it.

This morning Shkreli got another dose of media coverage following his arrest by federal agents in connection with securities fraud tied to his defunct hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management, Bloomberg reports.

Shkreli is accused of illegally using money from his biotech company Retrophin to pay off debts incurred by MSMB Capital Management. New York lawyer Even Greebel was also arrested Thursday, accused of conspiring to help Shkreli in the scheme, Bloomberg reports.

Reached Thursday afternoon, Shkreli's attorneys declined to comment on the arrest.

Jacquelyn Heard, communications director for Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP where Greebel was formerly a partner, declined to comment on the arrest.

"It would be inappropriate to comment on a former partner," she told Polygon.

Calls to the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's Office were not returned this morning. Team Imagine has not returned emails seeking comment. We will update this story when they respond.

In August, Shkreli bought the rights to a drug used by people with compromised immune systems, including those with AIDS, and then bumped its price from $13.50 a tablet to $750 a pop.

Earlier this month, news broke that Shkreli was the secret winning bidder of the only copy of Wu-Tang Clan's latest album.

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was pitched as a piece of Wu-Tang Clan produced art, an album that will only ever exist as a single record owned by one person. Shkreli, who is rumored to have paid $2 million for the album, told Bloomberg News that he wanted to pay more musicians to make exclusive music for him and that he hasn't yet listened to the fabled album that he paid so much for. He's waiting, he said, for a time when he needs his spirits lifted .... or maybe a request from Taylor Swift for a private listening session.

Shkreli got into eSports as a team owner in April when he created the team Odyssey. That team merged with Imagine in August.

You can read the full SEC complaint right here.

Update: Updated to include responses to our requests for comment, and a link to the SEC complaint.