Activist investor and renowned short seller Andrew Left surrendered to authorities in Los Angeles on Monday and was scheduled to appear before Judge Rozella A. Oliver in U.S. District Court this afternoon, according to a CNBC report. Left is facing both a criminal indictment issued Thursday by the Justice Department and charges of “bait-and-switch” tactics from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Left, who resides in Florida, faces 19 criminal counts, which could carry prison terms if he’s convicted. Known for his disdain for the “irrationality” around meme stocks like GameStop, the indictment said he “took contrary trading positions” to those he published and promoted publicly, saying he “misrepresented his trading positions during public appearances on news programs.”
“Left knowingly exploited his ability to move stock prices by targeting stocks popular with retail investors and posting recommendations on social media to manipulate the market and make fast, easy money,” the Justice Department said in a press release.
Left was a key antagonist in the meme stock craze of 2021, and his publicized short positions in GameStop fired up followers of retail investor influencers like Keith Gill, better known as Roaring Kitty. Left and his firm Citron Capital survived the surge in meme stock popularity at the time, but pulled out of its short position when GameStop was again rallying earlier this year.
The Justice Department also singled out his proclamations surrounding other companies, including American Airlines, Facebook, Tesla, Twitter, and Nvidia.
For Nvidia, the indictment said, Left posted a bullish price target from his Twitter (aka X) account, and cashed out early for a profit of $960,000.
Left’s attorney, James Spertus, told CNBC that he expected his client to be released from custody—but that prosecutors were seeking a bond of “several million dollars.”
“There’s no reason for any bond in this case,” Spertus told the outlet.
The separate SEC charges make similar allegations.
”Left bought back stock immediately after telling his readers to sell, and he sold stock immediately after telling his readers to buy,” the SEC said in its press release, asserting that the price of the stocks he targeted moved more than 12 percent on average.
