In a motion filed this week, federal prosecutors have reportedly asked a Brooklyn Federal Court judge to have former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli turn over his one-of-a-kind, $2 million-priced Wu Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.
Shkreli, who earned the infamous nickname “Pharma Bro,” gained notoriety in 2015 for raising the price of an AIDS-related drug from $13.50 per pill to $750, and afterward, for trolling rappers and saying obnoxious things through media outlets. In August, he was convicted on charges of securities fraud and conspiracy, and is awaiting sentencing. In September, he was jailed at a Brooklyn facility after a judge revoked his bail following a Facebook post that offered $5,000 to any follower who would grab a hair off Hillary Clinton’s head during her book tour.
The new motion, according to CNNMoney, seeks “substitute” assets to start covering funds that Shkreli criminally obtained, which happens to be the equivalent of $7.4 million. To collect the sum, the government has suggested that it will keep the $5 million Shkreli paid for bail with the remainder possibility being covered by assets such as the unreleased Wu-Tang album, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V, a Picasso painting, and an Enigma machine from World War II.
In 2015, Shkreli paid $2 million for the sole copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. He also apparently acquired Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V after purchasing a Bugatti Veyron.
In September, Shkreli claimed he would sell the Wu-Tang album on eBay, but it is unclear if he did so.
The former pharmaceutical exec is scheduled to be sentenced on January 16, 2018 and faces up to 20 years in prison.