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Andrew Left, the founder of short-selling financial research firm Citron Research, has been accused of securities fraud for allegedly profiting $16 million by making “bait and switch” stock recommendations that mislead retail investors.
Left, a strong crypto-skeptic, used social media and TV appearances to make recommendations on stocks he had short or long positions in, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission <a href="https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024-89" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">alleged</a> in a July 26 statement.
This created a false perception that his public comments on these stocks were in line with his company’s trading activity — though in many cases, he would do the opposite.&nbsp;
<blockquote>
 “Left bought back stock immediately after telling his readers to sell, and he sold stock immediately after telling his readers to buy.”
</blockquote>
“This fraudulent practice deceived investors and allowed Left to use his Citron Research reports and tweets as catalysts from which he could derive short-term profits,” the regulator added.
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/7c552742-9b81-42b7-9914-a2174e4e7163.png" alt="Citron crypto-skeptic Andrew Left to face fraud charges">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Excerpt from the SEC’s complaint against Andrew Left and Citron Capital. Source: SEC
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The SEC alleges that Citron and Left engaged in <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-trading-platforms-part-of-illegal-chinese-forex-ring-report">illegal trades</a> and attempted to manipulate the market between March 2018 and December 2023, filing the case in the US District Court Central District of California.
<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-to-long-and-short-with-margin-trading">There were 26 trades</a> made from 23 companies, including Nvidia, American Airlines, Alibaba, Meta (formerly Facebook) and X (formerly Twitter and now not publicly traded).
Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice also <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/activist-short-seller-charged-16m-stock-market-manipulation-scheme" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">announced</a> a criminal case against Left, which accused the short-seller of committing securities fraud and lying to federal law enforcement about compensation from hedge funds.
If Left is convicted on all 18 fraud-related charges, he could spend 25 years behind bars. His indictment comes a little over two years after he <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/citrons-left-says-crypto-is-complete-fraud-2022-07-11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">said</a> the crypto industry is full of fraud.
“I think crypto is just complete fraud, over and over and over,” Left said when asked where he saw fraud taking place in financial markets in July 2022.
<h3 id="citron-recently-told-investors-to-short-coinbase">Citron recently told investors to short Coinbase</h3>
This February, Left’s Citron called for the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/prominent-short-seller-citron-targets-coinbase-stock-after-exchange-outage">short sale of Coinbase stock </a>following the crypto exchange’s <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-coinbase-crash-caused-algorithmic-trading-firms-dydx">temporary outage on Feb. 28.</a>
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miner-iren-falls-24-percent-after-short-seller-report">IREN tumbles after short seller calls miner ‘Prius at the Grand Prix’</a>
Citron suggested investors place a Bitcoin long position through one of the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/bitcoin-etfs-a-beginners-guide-to-exchange-traded-funds">spot exchange-traded</a> funds while shorting the “bloated” crypto exchange.
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-07/2757e737-5fbc-4e03-a2b7-6de6426d7f34.png" alt="Citron crypto-skeptic Andrew Left to face fraud charges">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a href="https://x.com/CitronResearch/status/1762952994306294000" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Citron Research</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Cointelegraph reached out to Citron for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/thorchain-founder-jp-thor-vampire-attack-defi/">THORChain founder and his plan to ‘vampire attack’ all of DeFi</a>

Citron crypto-skeptic Andrew Left to face fraud charges

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