Citron crypto-skeptic Andrew left to face fraud charges

Andrew Graff, the founder of short-selling financial research firm Citron Research, has been charged with securities fraud after he made $16 million in “bait and switch” stock recommendations that misled retail investors.

Left, a staunch crypto-skeptic, used social media and TV shows to make recommendations on stocks he had short or long positions, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged in a July 26 statement.

This creates the false impression that his public opinion on these stocks is the same as the company's business – although in many cases it does the opposite.

“He bought stock immediately after telling his readers to sell, and sold immediately after telling his readers to buy.”

“This fraudulent activity allowed the left to use Citron Research's reports and tweets as a reason to make short-term profits by deceiving investors,” the regulator added.

The SEC alleges Citron and Left engaged in illegal trading and attempted to manipulate the market between March 2018 and December 2023, filing the case in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

There were 26 trades 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 has announced criminal charges against Graff, alleging that the short seller committed securities fraud and lied to federal law enforcement about compensation from hedge funds.

Lefty faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of all 18 charges. His lawsuit comes two years after he said the crypto industry was riddled with fraud.

When asked where he sees a scam in the financial markets in July 2022, the lefty said, “I think crypto is just a complete scam.”

Citron recently briefed investors on Coinbase

This February, leftist Citron called for a short sale of Coinbase stock following the crypto exchange's February 28 shutdown.

Related: IREN collapses after short seller calls miner ‘Prius at the Grand Prix'

Citron suggested investors keep a long Bitcoin position on one side of the exchange-traded fund while shorting the “bloated” crypto exchange.

Cointelegraph reached out to Citron for comment and did not receive an immediate response.

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