Enlarge / Martin Shkreli arrives at Brooklyn Federal Court on the first day of his securities fraud trial in 2017. (credit: Getty | Kevin Hagen )

In an effort to avoid being held in contempt of court, former pharmaceutical executive and convicted fraudster , Martin Shkreli, made an eyebrow-raising argument to a federal judge Friday, stating that his company Druglike, which he previously described as a "drug discovery software platform," was not engaged in drug discovery. As such, he argued he is not in violation of his sweeping lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry.

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission and seven states urged a federal judge in New York to hold Shkreli in contempt for allegedly failing to cooperate with an investigation into whether he violated the ban . The FTC said Shkreli failed to turn over requested documents related to Druglike and sit for an interview on the matter.

In the filing Friday, Shkreli claims that he responded to the FTC's requests "promptly and in good faith." He acknowledged that when the FTC contacted him about the investigation last October he did not have a lawyer and didn't know how to properly respond to the FTC's investigation. But, he continued to categorically deny that Druglike violated his lifetime ban.

Enlarge / Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing, smirked his way through a congressional hearing. (credit: CSPAN )

Infamous ex-pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli is yet again in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission, which announced today that the convicted fraudster has failed to cooperate with the commission's investigation into whether he violated his lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry by starting a company last year called "Druglike, Inc."

In a court filing today, the FTC asked a federal judge in New York to find Shkreli in contempt for failing to turn over requested documents to the FTC and failing to make himself available for an interview. Under the 2022 court order barring him from involvement in the pharmaceutical industry for life, Shkreli is required to provide such information to the FTC, the commission noted.

"Martin Shkreli’s failure to comply with the court’s order demonstrates a clear disregard for the law," Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a press release. "The FTC will not hesitate to deploy the full scope of its authorities to enable a comprehensive investigation into any potential misconduct."

Enlarge / Martin Shkreli, former CEO of Turing, smirked his way through a congressional hearing. (credit: CSPAN )

Infamous ex-pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has been released from federal prison after serving less than five years of a seven-year sentence for a securities and wire fraud conviction. He is now moving into a US Bureau of Prisons halfway house at an undisclosed location in New York until September 14, 2022.

Shkreli was convicted in August 2017 on two counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud in connection to what federal prosecutors called a Ponzi-like scheme involving two hedge funds Shkreli managed. In March 2018, a federal judge sentenced him to seven years, which he was serving in minimum security federal prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.

His early release—slightly more than four years after his sentencing—reflects time shaved off for good behavior in prison, plus completion of education and rehabilitation programs, according to CNBC . It also includes a credit for the roughly six months he spent in jail prior to his sentencing.