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Martin Shkreli was awarded seven-year prison term for defrauding investors in hedge funds he founded.The Associated Press

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the conviction and seven-year prison term of Martin Shkreli, the former pharmaceutical executive known as “Pharma Bro,” for defrauding investors in hedge funds he founded.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Mr. Shkreli’s argument that his trial judge instructed the jury incorrectly about securities fraud.

It also rejected his claim that the US$7.36-million he was ordered to forfeit was excessive, and could have been reduced because his investors made money.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” Mark Baker, a lawyer who argued Mr. Shkreli’s appeal, said in an interview. “We hoped we would achieve a better result.”

John Marzulli, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue declined to comment.

Mr. Shkreli, 36, is perhaps best known for raising the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim by more than 5,000 per cent while serving as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, now known as Phoenixus AG.

His August 2017 conviction also covered a charge that he conspired to manipulate the stock price of Retrophin Inc., a biopharmaceutical company he founded in 2011 and which ousted him three years later.

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