Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkeli must turn over his copies of the ultra-rare Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon A Time in Shaolin album, a federal judge has ordered.

The Wu-Tang Clan spent six years creating what is sometimes referred to as the world’s rarest album, before putting a single copy of the 31-track double album up for auction in 2015 on the condition that it would not be released publicly.

Once dubbed “Pharma Bro” for trying to boost the prices of a life-saving drug, Shkreli purchased the record for $2m in 2015, but was forced to forfeit it, as well as a number of valuable assets, to the US government in the 2017 securities fraud trial that put him in jail until 2022. It was then bought by the cryptocurrency collective PleasrDAO for $4.75m.

these super nerds are suing me 🤣🤣🤣🤣
the least crypto ethos, whitest, least culturally relevant dorks
good luck! https://t.co/Qd7D77xcsd

— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) June 11, 2024

In June, Shkreli was sued by PleasrDAO, who accused him of retaining digital copies of the album in violation of their deal and disseminating them among his social media followers.

Judge Pamela K. Chen in Brooklyn wrote that Shkreli must produce all copies of the record, and report the names of anyone he distributed the music to by September 30, along with any revenues he received from it.

The cryptocurrency collective’s attorney, Steven Koomen, called the ruling “an important victory”, adding that the company was pleased that the judge “recognized that immediate relief was necessary to thwart the continuing bad acts of Mr Shkreli”.