Wu-Tang Album Martin Shkreli Must Testify in Court.
A federal court has ruled that Martin Shkreli is required to appear in person and give sworn testimony regarding how he copied and distributed the rare Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
In a short decision made on Friday, October 11, Judge Pamela K. Chen set a hearing for next month to clarify the specifics of Shkreli's actions concerning Once Upon, an extremely rare Wu-Tang record that he previously owned but had to surrender to federal authorities following his conviction for securities fraud.
Judge Ruling
The judge indicated that the ruling aimed to "address the shortcomings" in Shkreli’s earlier sworn statements regarding the album's status, where the pharmaceutical executive expressed uncertainty about who might still possess copies. “Defendant Shkreli will be required to testify under oath concerning the copying and distribution of the album’s tracks,” the judge stated. “Both parties will have the opportunity to question defendant Shkreli on these matters.”
The legendary Wu-Tang album was secretly recorded and released only once, contained in a uniquely engraved nickel and silver box. Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop musical collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992.
Along with its unusual presentation, Once Upon came with strict legal conditions — specifically, that this one-of-a-kind album could not be made available to the public until 2103. In 2015, Shkreli — who would later gain notoriety for dramatically increasing the price of essential AIDS medications — purchased Once Upon at auction for $2 million.
Conviction
However, after his conviction for securities fraud in 2017, he forfeited the album to federal authorities to assist in covering his multi-million dollar restitution. In 2021, PleasrDAO, a group of early NFT collectors and digital artists, acquired the album from the government for $4 million, and in 2024, they obtained the copyrights and additional rights for another $750,000.
Following recent attempts to monetize Once Upon, Pleasr filed a lawsuit against Shkreli in June after he threatened to publicly release the album, jeopardizing the exclusivity that the company had acquired. The lawsuit claimed he violated both the federal forfeiture order and federal trade secrets law, which safeguards valuable proprietary information from being misappropriated.
In August, Judge Chen issued a preliminary injunction that required Shkreli to surrender any remaining copies of Once Upon that he still had. Shkreli’s legal team contended that he was entitled to make private copies while he owned the album and could keep them even after forfeiting the original, but the judge dismissed that claim.
Memory Loss
Last month, Shkreli informed the judge that he had “searched my devices, electronic accounts, and other personal effects” and turned over all copies in his possession. He affirmed that he did this “under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America.” However, he also mentioned that he couldn’t recall exactly who he had shared it with, suggesting that some individuals likely still had copies. “Since I shared the musical work multiple times several years ago, I cannot remember every instance of sharing it,” he explained to the judge. “It’s possible, and I believe it’s quite likely, that one of the many people who accessed the musical work through my social media recorded it and still has a copy.”
Attorneys representing Pleasr expressed their dissatisfaction. In a subsequent filing, they informed the judge that Shkreli's disclosure did not meet the necessary standards and "casts doubt on whether the Defendant has genuinely attempted to comply in good faith." On Friday, Judge Chen issued an order mandating Shkreli's appearance in court. His legal team had not responded to a request for comment by Monday (Oct. 14).
Who is Martin Shkreli
Martin Shkreli, born on March 17, 1983, is an American entrepreneur and investor. He was found guilty of financial offenses, resulting in a seven-year federal prison sentence. After serving approximately six and a half years, he was released on parole in 2022 and was also ordered to pay fines exceeding $70 million. Shkreli is recognized as the co-founder of several hedge funds, including Elea Capital, MSMB Capital Management, and MSMB Healthcare.
Additionally, he co-founded and served as the CEO of pharmaceutical companies Retrophin and Turing Pharmaceuticals, and he was the CEO of the software start-up Gödel Systems, which he established in August 2016. In September 2015, Shkreli faced significant backlash when Turing acquired the manufacturing rights for the antiparasitic medication Daraprim and increased its price from $13.50 to $750.00 per pill for insurance providers.
In 2017, he was convicted in federal court on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy, leading to a seven-year prison sentence and fines totaling up to $7.4 million. In a separate civil antitrust case, he was ordered to pay an additional $64.6 million in restitution to victims. In May 2022, he was released early from a low-security federal facility in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, and he is permanently barred from holding any officer position in publicly traded companies.
Related: Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
