Pharmaceutical start-up owner Martin Shkreli, dubbed the most hated man in the US over his controversial plans to significantly raise the price of life-saving drugs, has been arrested on suspicion of fraud.

Shkreli, 32, who received widespread criticism for hiking up the price of Daraprim from $13 (£8.80) to $750 per pill in September, is being questioned over allegations involving stock from a company he founded in 2011.

According to Bloomberg, Shkreli is accused of illegally taking stock from biotechnology Retrophin Inc to pay off debts from unrelated business dealings.

Shkreli's company Turing Pharmacuticals raised the price of Daraprim by more than 5000% after acquiring the HIV drug. Defending his decision, he said: "What's escaped the conversation is, hey, how about the fact that this is actually what I've been hired to do. It's like someone criticising a basketball player for scoring too many points."

He eventually lowered the price following worldwide criticism. He told NBC News: "Yes it is absolutely a reaction — there were mistakes made with respect to helping people understand why we took this action. I think that it makes sense to lower the price in response to the anger that was felt by people.

Recently, he was also reported to have paid millions of dollars for the sole copy of rap group Wu Tang Clan's latest album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.