According to X News unusual_whales:Short seller Andrew Left, who shorted GameStop, $GME, surrenders on securities fraud charges in L.A., due in court.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Left was charged with one count of participating in a securities fraud scheme, 17 counts of securities fraud and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
He is accused of profiting $16 million from market manipulation between 2018 and 2023.
According to the Justice Department, Left faces up to 370 years in prison if convicted on each count.
DOJ Menu:Activist Short Seller Charged for $16M Stock Market Manipulation Scheme
SEC files civil lawsuit against Andrew Left
According to the Justice Department, Left faces up to 370 years in prison if convicted on each count.
The SEC also files a civil suit, alleging a $20 million fraud scheme involving false statements about stock recommendations.
The complaint lists at least 26 instances involving 23 companies, including prominent names like Nvidia and Tesla.
Left allegedly coordinated with hedge funds, sharing reports and timing information to benefit from stock trades.
Andrew Left's past fraud
In 2016 Left was accused of misconduct by Hong Kong's market regulator, which banned him from the city's securities market. Regulators alleged Left misled investors by claiming China's Evergrande Group—which was ordered to liquidate its assets years later—was covering up its inability to pay debts. Left has appealed the ban.
In May 2019, Left allegedly manipulated Beyond Meat’s stock, misleadingly signalling a drop while secretly exiting short positions.
Left first became the target of a Justice Department investigation into short sellers in early 2022. Agents showed up at Left's home and seized his computers and transaction records, Bloomberg reported at the time. A year ago, Left and Citron (Left founded the blog StockLemon.com in 2001) bet against GameStop stock, claiming the video game retailer's stock price would fall sharply.
Following a social media-led short-selling campaign against GameStop, which ended with a 100% loss, Left said he would stop publishing short-selling reports. Earlier this year, Left reportedly announced a new short position in GameStop, a month after Keith Gill, the meme stock investor who fueled GameStop's surge in 2021, announced a 5 million share stake in the company.