Martin Shkreli, CEO who hiked the price of HIV drugs from $13.50 to $750, has been arrested

Shkreli has been charged with illegally taking stock from Retrophin Inc., a biotechnology firm he started in 2011 and using it to pay off debts from unrelated business dealings.

A spokeswoman for Retrophin told the Independent that it could not comment on the arrest until it had reviewed the charges. However, it is known that Shkreli was ousted from Retrophin in 2014 and sued by its board.

The spokeswoman said: “The Directors of Retrophin replaced Martin Shkreli as Chief Executive Officer more than a year ago because of serious concerns about his conduct.  Following his departure, the company authorized an independent investigation of Mr. Shkreli’s conduct, publicly disclosed its findings, and has fully cooperated with the government investigations into Mr. Shkreli.”

At first, he said he would lower the price of Daraprim, but later retracted this statement. When Hillary Clinton tweeted that a 10 per cent price reduction was not enough, he responded with one word: “lol”.

He said at a Forbes summit in New York: “I probably would have raised the price higher. My investors expect me to maximize profits.”

Shkreli is currently facing a lawsuit from Retrophin for allegedly misusing company funds.

The Securities Exchange Commission is expected to now file a parallel civil complaint.