‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli ‘Has No Assets’ To Pay Law Firm Defending Him

A law firm that has been representing the infamous “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli has asked a judge for permission to withdraw from his team after claiming he has skipped out on paying them.

The firm, Duane Morris LLP is accusing Shkreli’s former company Phoenixus of initially agreeing to pay off his fees but has since fallen off on the payments after they no longer were covered by insurance. The firm alleges they are owed $2.04 million for legal services from October to March 31st. Duane Morris also added in their court filing that Shkreli “has no assets” to pay off these fees and that he didn’t oppose their request for withdrawal.

Shkreli is best known for when he gouged the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim from $17.50 to $750 and mocked several critics of the action. He has been in a quagmire of legal troubles in the years since this controversy, both involving the Daraprim price hike, as well as separate charges for securities fraud. He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for these fraud charges.

This January, a judge officially barred Shkreli from ever working in the drug industry again and ordered him to pay $64.6 million for his role in the Daraprim price hike, and more “heartless and coercive” schemes that suppressed competition by stopping other drugmakers from being able to create cheaper versions of the drug. He was also later barred from serving as an officer or director of public companies permanently.

Shkreli will first be eligible for release from his securities fraud prison sentence in early November of this year.