Martin Shkreli ordered to give up one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album

Martin Shkreli is prohibited from possessing and selling his one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” a federal judge ruled.

Judge Pamela Chen of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York ordered the former pharmaceutical executive to turn over all copies of the album to his lawyers by Aug. 30. The decision comes a little more than two months after Chen issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the convicted hedge fund manager from “using, disseminating, streaming, or selling any interests in the Album.”

Shkreli, by Sept. 30, must file an affidavit accounting for all known copies in any form of the album, and whether those copies were distributed, Chen wrote. If Shkreli distributed any copies, he must also detail when, to whom, and how and any “proceeds, revenues, profits, or other financial benefits” he received from distributing or playing the album or its contents, the judge added.

PleasrDAO, a collective of investors that purchased the original album in two transactions in 2021 and 2024 for a total of $4.75 million, sued Shkreli in June, asking the court to enforce a criminal court’s forfeiture order, which was handed down after Shkreli in 2018 was sentenced to seven years in prison for securities fraud. The criminal court judge ordered him to forfeit assets, including the album, which he bought from the producers in 2015 for $2 million, according to PleasrDAO’s complaint.

The complaint alleged that after Shkreli was released from prison in May 2022, he publicly stated that he still has a copy of the album and live-streamed a portion of the recording.

Shkreli’s retention of the album “imperils” the essence of what makes it unique and could harm any commercial plans for the album, the collective said.

Reed Smith LLP represents PleasrDAO. Bochner PLLC represents Shkreli.

The case is PleasrDAO v. Shkreli, E.D.N.Y., No. 1:24-cv-04126, minute entry 8/23/24.