VOA慢速英语2015 美国"黑心"药业大亨被捕

AS IT IS 2015-12-18 ‘Hated’ Drug Company Head Arrested by FBI 美国"黑心"药业大亨被捕

A U.S. businessman once described as the “most hated man in America” was arrested Thursday.

曾被人们称为“恶棍”的美国商人于周四被联邦调查局逮捕。

Martin Shkreli was arrested at his New York City apartment, said federal prosecutor¹ Robert Capers².

联邦调查官Robert Capers称在Martin Shkreli纽约的公寓里将其逮捕。

Shkreli, 32, heads New York-based Turing Pharmaceuticals³.

32岁的Martin Shkreli是图灵制药公司的创始人。

He and his company were criticized earlier this year after raising the price of a drug used by patients with AIDS and forms of cancer.  The price of the drug "Daraprim" increased from $13.50 a pill to $700 a pill. The drug is used all over the world, including Africa.

而就在年初，他因涉嫌抬高一种专门用来治疗艾滋病与癌症的药物价格而被起诉。这种名叫乙胺嘧啶药物由原来每片13.50美元飞涨至每片700美元。这类药物在全世界广泛应用，包括非洲。

The BBC described him as the “the worst man in America.”

之后，英国广播公司便将他称为“全美最黑心的商人”。 

After the price increase, American presidential candidate Bernie Sanders rejected a $2,700 donation from Shkreli. The Sanders campaign instead gave the money to an AIDS clinic.

哄抬药价时间发生后，美国总统候选人伯尼.桑德斯曾拒绝了Shkreli捐赠的2700美元。伯尼.桑德斯将这些钱转捐给了一家艾滋病疗养中心。

A spokesman for Sanders said the presidential campaign would not keep money “from this poster boy for drug company greed.”

伯尼.桑德斯竞选团队的发言人表示：“我们是不会接受如此心术不正之人的捐献的。”

After the criticism, Shkreli agreed to reduce the price of the cancer/AIDS drug. But recent reports by Forbes and other news organizations said Shkreli has since changed his mind about lowering the price.

迫于社会舆论的压力，Shkreli只好同意重新下调药品的价格，但据福布斯以及一些相关媒体跟进报道，Shkreli现在又变卦了。

Capers, the federal prosecutor, said Shkreli’s arrest Thursday related to his previous work as a hedge fund manager and head of another drug company. It is not related to the controversy⁴ over drug pricing, he said.

检察官Capers表示，逮捕Shkreli是因为他之前曾担任对冲基金以及另外一家制药公司的负责人。而并非因之前恣意抬高药物价格的行为。

Shkreli headed the drug firm Retrophin until last year. Capers said that Shkreli used that company to pay off “his own personal debts.”

去年，Shkreli还在担任Retrophin公司的负责人。Capers称Shkreli利用这家公司填补个人资产的亏空。

Shkreli owed the money to clients of MSMB, a hedge fund he ran, Capers said.

Capers表示Shkreli创立的MSMB基金公司欠下大笔债款。

Capers said Shkreli tried to make the payments seem legitimate⁵. He did so by listing them as payments for consulting work.

为了让这些挪动的资金合法，他将这笔资金列为咨询费用支出。

But Capers said no consulting work had been done. Also arrested Thursday was one of Shkreli’s attorneys, Capers said.

但是他却从未有过任何咨询事宜。与Shkreli一起被捕的还有他的辩护律师。

Retrophin filed a lawsuit⁶ against Shkreli earlier this year. It had removed him as its chief executive in 2014.

Retrophin公司年初曾对Shkreli提起诉讼。此外，还罢免了其董事长职位。

In the lawsuit, Retrophin said: “Shkreli used his control over Retrophin to enrich himself, and to pay off claims of MSMB investors⁷, who he had defrauded⁹.”

Retrophin公司在其诉讼中提及：“Shkreli滥用职权营一己之私，用公司的利益来填补被其欺骗的投资人亏空。”

Shkreli has denied the charges in the Retrophin lawsuit. Neither he nor his attorneys have commented about his arrest.

Shkreli否认了这一指控，但他与辩护律师对被捕一事并未作出任何回应。

Words in This Story

prosecutor – n. a lawyer who represents the side in a court case that accuses a person of a crime and who tries to prove that the person is guilty

postor boy – n. a person who represents a human characteristic human character

greed – n. a selfish desire to have more of something, mainly money

hedge fund – n.  a group of investors who take financial risks together in order to try to earn a lot of money

controversy – n. argument that involves many people who strongly disagree about something

legitimate – n. allowed according to rules or laws

consulting – adj. to give professional advice to a person, organization, or company for a fee

enrich – v. to make someone rich or richer

defraud⁸ – v. to trick or cheat someone

1 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

2 capers   

n.开玩笑( caper的名词复数 )；刺山柑v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I like to fly about and cut capers. 我喜欢跳跳蹦蹦闹着玩儿。 来自辞典例句
• He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

3 pharmaceuticals   

n.医药品；药物( pharmaceutical的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the development of new pharmaceuticals 新药的开发
• The companies are pouring trillions of yen into biotechnology research,especially for pharmaceuticals and new seeds. 这些公司将大量资金投入生物工艺学研究，尤其是药品和新种子方面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

6 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 defraud   

vt.欺骗，欺诈

参考例句：

• He passed himself off as the managing director to defraud the bank.他假冒总经理的名义诈骗银行。
• He is implicated in the scheme to defraud the government.他卷入了这起欺骗政府的阴谋。

9 defrauded   

v.诈取，骗取( defraud的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He defrauded his employers of thousands of dollars. 他诈取了他的雇主一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He defrauded them of their money. 他骗走了他们的钱。 来自辞典例句