Martin Shkreli’s claim he forfeited all copies of Wu-Tang album ‘dubious,’ says PleasrDAO

The crypto group suing Martin Shkreli for allegedly decreasing the value of a one-off Wu-Tang Clan album by retaining copies has asked a judge for a more comprehensive search of his effects, claiming he hasn’t “fully” complied with a court order. 

PleasrDAO — the group who owns the only physical copy of Wu-Tang’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin — said in a Sept. 6 letter to a New York federal court that Shkreli’s claims that he handed over all existing copies of the album were “dubious” and requested he be ordered to undertake a deeper search and forfeiture. 

Shkreli submitted a sworn declaration on Aug. 26 saying he’d found a total of 15 files with copies of the album which had been saved on Microsoft One drive after the court ordered he hand over all copies and affirm he no didn’t have any duplicates of the album.

Shkreli said he searched his “devices, electronic accounts, and other personal effects” but PleasrDAO claimed he might have additional copies of the album hidden away elsewhere.

PleasrDAO says Martin Shkreli’s claims of handing over all copies are “dubious.” Source: Courtlistener

“Mr. Shkreli indicates that there may be additional copies in ‘storage’ facilities that held his personal effects while he served time in prison, but offers no specificity around what prevented him from searching all facilities,” PleasrDAO’s wrote.

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The Wu-Tang Clan’s album was recorded between 2007 and 2013 and features at least 31 tracks across two discs, according to a track listing released by PleasrDAO in April.

PleasrDAO said Shkreli had only attested to “sequestering and turning over” the audio files to 15 tracks but claimed he had boasted publicly about giving out copies of the album and had stored additional copies of it in “safes all around the world.”

An official track list released by PleasrDAO shows the album containing at least 31 tracks. Source: PleasrDAO/X

The group alleged Shkreli had said in a public statement, “Dude, you know I burned the album and sent it to like, 50 different chicks, right?”

The decentralized autonomous organization ( DAO ) purchased the physical album from the United States Justice Department for $4.75 million in 2021, which seized the album from Shkreli following his conviction for securities fraud in 2018.

The DAO is selling partial ownership of the record through non-fungible tokens ( NFTs ).

It sued Shkreli in June, alleging he kept copies of the album. It said its purchase of the album was supposed to be the only copy of it and is seeking a judge’s order to permanently seize Shkreli’s alleged copies and ban him from being able to financially exploit the album.

Shkreli had argued the alleged copies were made under his purchase agreement when he first bought the album before it was forfeited to the government, and as such, the copies are not under the forfeiture and he still has the right to use them.

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