BRO’S SNOW JOBS
Ex-workers slam Shkreli
MARTIN SHKRELI was full of it. Two former employees of the Pharma Bro testified Friday that Shkreli was a big talker who flaked on many things — including salaries and bills. Brooklyn federal prosecutors say Shkreli committed securities fraud, allegedly separating investors from their money through lies and omissions so he could prop up his failing business ventures. To keep painting Shkreli as a guy full of empty promises, prosecutors brought in former employees Caroline Stewart and Jackson Su on Friday. Stewart, a Wall Street veteran, spent about seven months as an analyst for one of Shkreli’s hedge funds.
She described working with Shkreli, 34, at MSMB Capital Management as high-pressure and nerve-wracking — at least before a big market bet went wrong and Shkreli’s fund ended up owing millions. The place went from hyper to “quiet,” “morose” and “somber,” she said.
Stewart, whose $150,000-ayear salary was irregular, also called Shkreli a “scam artist” who spouted off fake facts and made big salary pledges — “all for appearances, to keep the game going,” according to internet chat with another Shkreli employee.
“If he f---- me over one more time with respect to money then I’m going to expose him,” an irate Stewart wrote just before her firing, according to a July 2011 IM message to CEO Kevin Mulleady that was revealed during her testimony. “I’m working two-thirds the salary I had before . . . he’s full of s---,” she added.
Stewart acknowledged that Shkreli tried helping her find a job before she worked for him. She agreed he warned her that working for him could be tough. Jurors also heard from Su. Early in his dealings, Su said, he flew to the city from Dallas for a 2009 job interview with Shkreli.
The job didn’t pan out, and Su said Shkreli never made good on a pledge to reimburse his travel costs.
Shkreli later stood up Su for another interview — but Su got the job eventually, in 2012, and stayed for a year.
Su said that, as chief operating officer, he heard varying accounts of how much money was being managed overall.
He testified that he was “surprised and taken aback” when he learned a $900,000 investment from one of Shkreli’s hedge funds was actually “reclassified” as a loan.