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Martin Shkreli,former chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals,arrives at federal court in New York on Friday.Credit:Bloomberg

That increase sparked outrage from US lawmakers and patients,and earned Shkreli the nickname'Pharma bro.'

The charges stemmed from his career before Turing,as chief executive of Retrophin and manager of hedge funds MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare.

Prosecutors claimed that between 2009 and 2014,Shkreli lied to MSMB investors,lost their money and paid them back with cash and stock misappropriated from Retrophin.

Jurors heard testimony from several MSMB investors who said Shkreli falsely claimed to have an outside auditor and tens of millions of dollars in assets,sent them fabricated account statements after losing their money and became evasive when they asked for their investments back.

Prosecutors said Shkreli eventually paid investors back with stock or cash from Retrophin by having them sign settlement or consulting agreements with the company. Retrophin directors testified that they did not approve those agreements in advance.

Shkreli's lawyer,Benjamin Brafman,had urged jurors to see his client not as a fraudster but as an eccentric genius determined to find cures for rare diseases.

Brafman said that while Shkreli's statements to investors were not always true,he made them in good faith. He also emphasised that none of Shkreli's investors lost money,a rarity in a securities fraud case.

Reuters