This past Tuesday, October 20th, the First Department Appellate Court handed down a judgement in favor of plaintiff George Yaffe against defendant Martin Shkreli, reaffirming the trial court decision that Yaffe recover from Shkreli over $425,000. The now infamous Martin Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in federal prison and up to $7.4 million in fines after being convicted of two counts of securities fraud. In the time leading up to his sentence, he gained public infamy for skyrocketing the price of the lifesaving HIV drug, Daraprim. Guzov, LLC began litigation against Shkreli on behalf of Yaffe in early 2018, while Shkreli was already imprisoned. 

The case stemmed from a promissory note between the two in which Shkreli agreed to pay $250,000, with interest, following his mishandling of an investment Yaffe made in his company. Initially, the suit resulted in a default judgment due to Shkreli’s lack of response to being served. The default judgment was later appealed by Shkreli, though the Court ruled in favor of Yaffe. In the decision and order, the Court described Shkreli’s arguments through counsel as “insufficient” and “unavailing.” [1] After two years of litigation, Guzov, LLC was able to obtain a judgement in favor of Yaffe.

Sources:

[1] – Yaffe v Shkreli, 2020, NY, Slip Op 05875, Decided on October 20, 2020, Appellate Division, First Department, Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.