Martin Shkreli: Fraud 'allegations are baseless and without merit' claims pharmaceutical CEO

Controversial chief executive confident he 'will prevail

Former pharmaceutical chief executive Martin Shkreli has insisted charges of securities fraud and conspiracy "are baseless and without merit".

Prosecutors allege Shkeli lost a large amount of money from his hedge fund investors after a series of bad trades between 2009 and 2014, and then siphoned off £11m funds from the pharmaceutical company where he was CEO to pay back his clients.

A US attorney said after Shkreli’s arrest that he ran companies like "a Ponzi scheme".

Shkreli, who was arrested on Thursday, announced on Twitter that he is confident he "will prevail".

On Friday, the 32-year-old resigned from Turing Pharmaceuticals, but thanked friends and family for support. He pled not guilty to the charges at Brooklyn federal court and was released on $5m bail.

Shkreli is best known for raising the price of HIV-drug Heparin from $13.50 to $750 a pill, for which he received worldwide vitriol.

He was described as "the most hated man on the internet" and was condemned by figures including Hillary Clinton, who challenged him on the price of Heparin.