Federal prosecutors and securities regulators filed criminal and civil fraud charges against a well-known investor who frequently appeared on cable TV business shows to discuss his often bearish views on stocks, the authorities said on Friday.
They accused the investor, Andrew Left, of raking in at least $16 million in illegal profits from a multiyear scheme to manipulate market prices of roughly two dozen stocks on which his firm, Citron Research, had published reports.
He is charged with illegally profiting through stock trades he made that were contrary to the public recommendations he was making to investors.
The authorities in Los Angeles said Mr. Left essentially used a bait-and-switch strategy that was at odds with his Wall Street reputation of being a vocal short seller, with supposedly long-held negative views of the stocks on which he published critical reports.
The charging documents said Mr. Left, 54, used his high profile on Wall Street to make quick profits from big price changes in a stock and misled investors by making them believe his economic interests were aligned with what he said in his reports.
Persons:
Andrew Left
Organizations:
Citron Research
Locations:
Los Angeles