Lawyer Guilty of Helping Shkreli Cover Up Fraud

Verdict sends a powerful message, prosecutor says
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 28, 2017 12:46 AM CST
Shkreli Lawyer Guilty of Financial Fraud
In this Feb. 4, 2016 photo, pharmaceutical chief Martin Shkreli speaks during the House Committee on Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on his former company's decision to raise the price of a lifesaving medicine.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

A lawyer accused of helping Martin Shkreli cover up financial fraud was convicted on Wednesday, a result a prosecutor said should send a "powerful message" through the legal profession. After an 11-week trial, Evan Greebel was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn of conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, the AP reports. His lawyer, Reed Brodsky, said they were "shocked by the verdict." "We will continue to fight for justice for Evan Greebel and his family," Brodsky said. US Attorney Bridget M. Rohde said Greebel helped Shkreli steal millions of dollars and helped cover up Shkreli's fraud while the hedge fund manager was chief executive of Retrophin Inc., a biopharmaceutical company.

Greebel was Retrophin's outside counsel from 2011 to 2014, when prosecutors say he conspired with notorious "Pharma Bro" Shkreli to misappropriate Retrophin's assets to pay off defrauded investors. They said he also conspired with Shkreli between 2012 and 2014 to defraud investors and potential investors in Retrophin by trying to illegally control the price and trading volume of Retrophin's stock. "Today's verdict sends a powerful message that this office, together with our law enforcement partners, will hold lawyers accountable when they use their legal expertise to facilitate the commission of crimes," Rohde said in a statement. Shkreli is incarcerated while awaiting sentencing in an unrelated securities fraud scheme. His bail was revoked in September after he offered a bounty for Hillary Clinton's hair.

(More Martin Shkreli stories.)

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