Former businessman and hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli was recently forced by a federal judge to give up $7.4million in assets. Among those, he had to forfeit artwork by Pablo Picasso and rare Wu-Tang Clan album, worth around $2million, says CNNmoney.
The decisions follows his conviction for fraud last year. Shkreli, at the time portfolio manager of a hedge fund, allegedly misled investors and misused their money. Such actions caused him to give up most of his assets, including a Lil Wayne record called The Carter V. The bail was posted by judge Kiyo Matsumoto at $5.
His conviction came in August 4th 2017, after which Shkreli was out on bail until he was sent to Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center in September for posting an online offer of $5000 for anyone to bring him a strand Hillary Clinton’s hair.
The ultra-rare Wu-Tang Clan record he purchased online, for which he revealed to have paid $2 million, is a double album titled Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. Only one copy of the record ever existed and the musical material it contains isn’t intended to be publicly revealed for 88 years, reported NME.
Immediately following the purchase, Shkreli revealed his concerns regardings his identity being disclosed, which could have caused controversy once the hip-hop group learned who was the real buyer.
Band leader RZA, however, responded that “the sale of ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’ was agreed upon in May, well before Martin Skhreli’s [sic] business practices came to light. We decided to give a significant portion of the proceeds to charity”, says NME.
He also added that “Owning a Picasso doesn’t mean you can sell prints or reproductions, but that you’re the sole owner of a unique original. And that’s what ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ is. It’s a unique original rather than a master copy of an album”.
Photo Credit: Marv Watson
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