At the top of March, notorious “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in prison for various securities-fraud-related charges. Shkreli will also be forced to forfeit more than $7.3 million in assets as part of U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto’s ruling, which includes his $2 million Wu-Tang Clan album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, in addition to Lil Wayne‘s Tha Carter V to cover the fine.
According to the Department of Justice’s filing earlier this week, the U.S. government “hereby give[s] notice of its intent to dispose of the forfeited property in such manner as the United States Attorney General may direct.” The public has 60 days from filing day to “claim interest” in the property before being discarded.
Forbes reached out to a government representative who stated the albums’ fate will, in turn, be decided “directly by the civil division of the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York.” With that said, Justice Department head Jeff Sessions will remain “indirectly responsible” for the forfeiture case decision.
The bizarre saga gets even more complicated from a legal standpoint, as the Wu-Tang album has not been seized yet, according to Peter Scoolidge, attorney for Shaolin producer Tarik “Cilvaringz” Azzougarh. He recently relayed to Forbes, “The contract the album was sold under requires Mr. Shkreli to bind any new taker of the album to all of the same terms it was sold under,” says Scoolidge. “If and when that happens, my client could file papers in the forfeiture proceeding to enforce the restrictions on use of the album.”
Between Cilvaringz and RZA, they still hold 50 percent of the master recording of the Wu album, which was barred from being sold again for 88 years after Shkreli’s reported $2 million purchase. There is still much to be decided in the months ahead before any final decision is reached on the state of the two exclusive albums.