The indictment of Martin Shkreli, the widely reviled head of a pharmaceutical company that secured the rights to a decades-old drug and then increased its price more than fiftyfold, was described by a F.B.I. official as the “securities fraud trifecta of lies, deceit and greed” — nothing particularly new when it comes to defrauding hedge fund investors.

What makes the case interesting is that a lawyer, Evan Greebel, has been charged as an accomplice for not protecting his corporate client that Mr. Shkreli is accused of using essentially as a personal piggy bank.

Lawyers are important players in corporate transactions, ensuring their clients comply with the rules. But when legal advice pushes over the line into enabling fraud, then a lawyer can wind up on the wrong side of the law.

Mr. Shkreli was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy for misleading investors in a hedge fund he managed about losses it suffered. As The New York Times pointed out, this aspect of the case was little more than a small-time fraud in which investors were duped into believing their investment of a few million dollars was profitable when in fact Mr. Shkreli made a series of bad stock picks — hardly the stuff of front-page headlines.