SEC sues Andrew Left, his firm Citron Capital over short selling

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued short seller Andrew Left and his firm Citron Capital, alleging that he engaged in a $20 million multi-year scheme to defraud followers by publishing false and misleading statements regarding his stock trading recommendations.

The SEC alleged that while Left recommended his followers buy or sell certain stocks, he would quickly reverse his position once his report was published.

“Andrew Left took advantage of his readers,” Kate Zoladz, Director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office, said in a statement on Friday. “He built their trust and induced them to trade on false pretenses so that he could quickly reverse direction and profit from the price moves following his reports. We uncovered these alleged bait-and-switch tactics, which netted Left and his firm $20 million in ill-gotten profits, and we intend to hold Left and his firm accountable for their actions.”

The SEC’s complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, charges Left and Citron Capital with violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

Left declined to comment to Seeking Alpha.

Some of the companies included in the SEC’s complaint again Left where he published long and short recommendations about include American Airlines (AAL), Roku Inc. (ROKU), Cronos Group (CRON), Beyond Meat (BYND) and Vuzix Corp. (VUZI).