New York, NY — Martin Shkreli, infamously known as the “Pharma Bro,” has been ordered by a federal judge in New York to surrender any digital or physical copies he may possess of the rare Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. This comes after allegations surfaced that Shkreli, despite having forfeited the album’s only physical copy to pay off court-ordered debts, retained digital versions and played the music for others in violation of the forfeiture order.
Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical executive, became notorious in 2015 after drastically increasing the price of the life-saving drug Daraprim. In 2017, he was convicted of securities fraud for misleading investors and was subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison. As part of his punishment, he was ordered to forfeit $7.4 million to the U.S. government, which included the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album he had purchased for $2 million in 2015.
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is a unique 31-track album that the Wu-Tang Clan created over six years. The hip-hop group auctioned the album with the stipulation that it could never be publicly released, intending it to be regarded as a piece of contemporary art. After Shkreli’s conviction, the album was forfeited and later purchased by PleasrDAO, a cryptocurrency collective, for a reported $4.75 million.
The current dispute arose when PleasrDAO, now the album’s owner, accused Shkreli of holding onto digital copies of the music and sharing them, despite the court’s forfeiture order. Last month, a federal judge blocked Shkreli from streaming or sharing the record. In a new ruling issued Monday, the judge ordered Shkreli to surrender all remaining copies of the album by the end of the week.
A lawyer representing PleasrDAO hailed the decision as “an important victory.” Shkreli’s legal team, however, downplayed the significance of the order, stating that it was merely a preliminary measure and did not impact the final outcome of the ongoing lawsuit.
Shkreli, who was released from prison in 2022 after serving the majority of his sentence, continues to fight the legal battle regarding the rare album and its contents. The case remains ongoing.