Business News Roundup, Jan. 21

House lawmakers have issued a subpoena to compel former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, reviled for price-gouging, to appear at a congressional hearing Tuesday.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating several companies for exorbitant drug price increases, including embattled Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals.

Shkreli became notorious after his company, Turing, raised the price of Daraprim, the only approved drug for a rare and sometimes deadly parasitic infection, by 5,000 percent.

[...] Shkreli has been deluged with criticism from patients, politicians and the media, with some labeling him the “most hated man in America.”

Last month, the 32-year-old former hedge fund manager was arrested in New York and charged with securities fraud and conspiracy related to another pharmaceutical company he previously ran called Retrophin.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew stressed on Wednesday during a visit to Puerto Rico that congressional action is the only solution to pulling the U.S. territory out of its worsening economic crisis.

Five people have been accused in federal court of taking part in an alleged scheme to steal biopharmaceutical trade secrets from GlaxoSmithKline and sell them to competitors in China.

Charges in the indictment include conspiracy to steal trade secrets and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Prosecutors allege that 45-year-old GlaxoSmithKline employee Yu Xue e-mailed and downloaded confidential information and a former employee also e-mailed material, and the defendants also set up corporations that would sell the material.

If the cash you doled out for a Las Vegas cab ride hurt your wallet, it’s not all in your head — auditors in Nevada also think taxi rates are outrageous.

Cabs are overcharging customers to the tune of $47 million a year, according to an audit released Tuesday of the Nevada Taxicab Authority.

Auditors for the governor’s finance office blamed increased fuel charges as gas prices are tanking and a $3 credit card processing fee that they say probably shouldn’t exist.

“The (taxi) board’s decision is a windfall for the industry, which is able to pass additional operational costs on to the public,” the audit says.

Gawker Media has sold a minority stake to the investment company Columbus Nova Technology Partners, a move that founder Nick Denton said was driven by the need to fund growth and to bolster the company for a lawsuit by wrestler Hulk Hogan over a sex tape.