July 28, 2021 at 03:46PMTina Davis/Bloomberg
The U.S. government has sold the only copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” an album that had been owned by “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli.
The price and identity of the buyer is being kept secret, per terms of the sale, according to a press release Tuesday from the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. “The buyer’s identity will become known in the near future,” said Peter Scoolidge, a New York-based attorney representing the anonymous album owner.
Proceeds from the sale will go toward a $7.4 million forfeiture judgment that Shkreli faces after being convicted of securities fraud for his actions at two hedge funds he ran and as the chief executive officer of pharmaceutical company
Shkreli is currently serving a 7-year prison sentence. The government seized the album after the Supreme Court denied a request to review his conviction and sentence. Shkreli paid $2 million for the album in 2015, and the government noted that the album came with a handmade nickel-silver box and a leather-bound book with lyrics and a certificate of authenticity.
It remains subject to restrictions, including duplication.
“This was the most interesting deal I have ever worked on,” Scoolidge said in a statement.
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