As the fraud case against former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli moves closer to trial, attorneys for the controversial “Pharma Bro” and for co-defendant Evan Greebel, Shkreli's former counsel, will argue Friday in the Eastern District of New York that they should be tried separately.

The oral arguments before Eastern District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto will also concern a motion by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District to hold a hearing to assess if Shkreli has enough evidence on hand to support an advice of counsel defense that he plans to use at trial.

In the underlying case, Shkreli faces eight counts for allegedly scheming to defraud investors in two hedge funds he founded, then misappropriating assets from Retrophin Inc., a biopharmaceutical company he chaired until 2014, to pay off the hedge fund investors.