Securities fraud ain’t nothing to f**k with, as “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli learned that the hard way when he was sentenced to 7 years back in 2018.
Before departing for the rugged lands of the federal penitentiary, the DOJ seized Shkreli’s highest profile asset, the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin, that he snagged for $2 million. For those of you who weren’t following the backstory on this recording…
The album was recorded in secret over six years. A single two-CD copy was pressed in 2014 and stored in a secured vault at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco, then auctioned through auction house Paddle8 in 2015. A legal agreement with the purchaser stipulated that the album cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, although it can be played during listening parties.
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And Shkreli had it, until the federal government took it with an eye toward satisfying Shkreli’s $7.4 million restitution bill. Today, the DOJ announced that they had sold the album.
While the confidentiality provision robs us of knowing who picked up the record, maybe the buyer will have us over for a listening party soon?
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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.