The Latest: Prosecutor says Martin Shkreli snared investors in ‘web of lies’

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The latest on the securities fraud arrest of Martin Shkreli, a pharmaceutical company executive who was vilified for ratcheting up the price of a life-saving drug. All times local:

12:15 p.m.

A prosecutor says former hedge fund manager and controversial pharmaceutical company CEO Martin Shkreli lied to investors, used assets from a drug company to pay off investors in a hedge fund and tried to cover up what he was doing.

Brooklyn U.S Attorney Robert Capers said Thursday that Shkreli “engaged in multiple schemes to ensnare in investors through a web of lies and deceit.” His comments came after Shkreli was arrested on securities fraud and other charges.

Calls to an attorney who has represented Shkreli in the past haven’t been returned.

Shkreli sparked outrage his fall when his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, raised the price of a drug for a rare parasitic infection from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

The criminal charges are unrelated to Turing. Some counts concern another drug company he once ran, Retrophin.

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8:40 a.m.

Martin Shkreli, the former hedge fund manager under fire for buying a pharmaceutical company and ratcheting up the price of a life-saving drug, is in custody following a securities probe.

Calls to an attorney that has represented Shkreli in the past were not immediately returned. His arrest was confirmed Thursday by FBI spokeswoman Kelly Langmesser.

A furor over the staggering price hike triggered multiple government investigations and pledges from politicians to rein in soaring prescription drug prices. Those include newly approved medicines costing around $100,000 a year and some old, formerly cheap generics.

Rising pharmaceutical prices has become a topic in the upcoming U.S. presidential race.