Founder of Citron Research Found Guilty of Scheming to Manipulate Stock Market via Media Campaigns
LOS ANGELES – Stock analyst and frequent guest on business television news channels was found guilty by a jury today for using his public platform to illicitly profit by manipulating stock market activity and trading opposite to the position he presented to the public.
Andrew Left, 55, formerly of Beverly Hills but who now resides in Boca Raton, Florida, was found guilty of one count of securities fraud scheme and 12 counts of securities fraud.
“Left used his TV appearances to disguise his intentions, manipulate the stock market, and pad his pockets,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “A fair and transparent securities market is a foundation of our nation’s financial system. We will continue to bring to justice individuals who abuse the public trust placed in financial advisors.”
“Frauds such as the one perpetrated by Left can erode investor confidence which impacts our capital markets” said Patrick Grandy, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. “While this conviction cannot make up for the significant and emotional harm he inflicted upon his unwitting investors, it does send a message to those who may be looking to profit from similar schemes – think twice because the FBI has a proven track record of rooting out fraudsters who illegally tilt the playing field against honest investors and undermine confidence in our markets.”
According to evidence presented at a 15-day trial, Left was a securities analyst, trader, and frequent guest commentator on business cable news channels such as CNBC, Fox Business, and Bloomberg Television. He also published under the name “Citron Research,” an online moniker he created as for his platform to publish investment recommendations. Citron’s online presence included a website and a social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Using Citron’s online platform, Left commented on publicly traded companies and asserted that the market incorrectly valued the companies’ stock, advocating that the current price was too high or too low.
Left’s recommendations often included an explicit or implicit representation about Citron’s trading position and a “target price,” which he represented as his own view of the security’s true future value.
Left used his social media following and public platform to earn at least $21 million in quick profits by fraudulently manipulating the stock market from at least March 2018 to October 2023.
Knowing that Citron’s reputation with investors had the power to move markets, Left selected a publicly traded company about which he intended to publish commentary with the intention of manipulating its share price. Left prepared commentary about the company for dissemination through Citron.
Sometimes, the commentary represented Left’s own work. Other times, Left disseminated as his own the commentary of third parties. The commentary routinely included sensationalized headlines and inflammatory language to maximize the immediate impact their publication would have on the stock market.
In the lead up to publication of Citron’s commentary, Left established long or short positions in a company in his trading accounts, so he profited by taking advantage of the intended short-term movement in the company’s share price caused by his commentary. To exploit his advanced knowledge of the timing and subject of the forthcoming commentary on the company, Left often built his positions using inexpensive, short-dated options contracts that expired the same day that he published his commentary.
Left also submitted limit orders to close his positions as soon as the company’s shares reached a certain price – often at prices vastly different from the target prices Citron’s commentary touted. Though Left represented to the public that his recommendations were to be trusted, behind the scenes, Left took opposite trading positions to reap quick profits off the stocks he either promoted or pilloried through Citron.
To maintain the illusion of Citron’s independence and the credibility of its commentary, Left concealed Citron’s financial relationships with hedge funds. According to the indictment, for example, Left lied to law enforcement that Citron “never” exchanged compensation with a hedge fund or coordinated trading with a hedge fund in advance of the issuance of its commentary.
For example, in November 2018, Left wrote a portfolio manager about Nvidia Corp., a publicly traded technology company based in Santa Clara, California. In the message, Left wrote, “Do you want to make some fast money[.] Put together a thesis why nvda is oversold . . . We can destroy it . . . Just read the analyst notes from this past quarter and assemble the best of the ideas.”
Later that morning, Left took financial positions in Nvidia, including short-dated call options that expired three days later. Short-dated options can offer quick profits if a stock suddenly moves in the narrow timeframe before expiration.
Left then promoted Nvidia as a favorable investment on Citron’s Twitter account, stating, “Citron buys $NVDA. This is the first time in 2 years stock offers an appealing risk-reward to investors . . . We see $165 before we see $120.” At the time, Nvidia’s stock was trading at approximately $143.64. The tweet was reported on by major media outlets.
Despite his representation that he expected Nvidia’s share price to rise to $165, less than two hours after announcing “Citron buys $NVDA,” Left sold all his pre-tweet positions Nvidia was trading within a range of approximately $150 – $151, for a profit of at least than $960,000. Nvidia closed at a high of $154 on the day of Left’s tweet and fell to $144 the next day.
Left also furthered his scheme by misrepresenting his trading positions during public appearances on news programs. After denouncing one company as a “fraud” on CNBC’s “Fast Money,” for example, Left falsely claimed to have covered only a “small size” of his position in the company’s stock when, earlier that same day, he had already closed out most of his position following the publication of commentary through Citron.
The jury acquitted Left of four counts of securities fraud for trades for four specific companies.
United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips scheduled an August 31 sentencing hearing, at which time Left would face a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison for the securities fraud scheme count, up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of securities fraud.
The FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service investigated this matter, with substantial assistance from FINRA’s Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group.
Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew M. Roach of the Major Frauds Section and Benedetto L. Balding of the Transnational Organized Crime Section and Acting Assistant Chief Matthew Reilly of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting this case.
The Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Section uses the Victim Notification System (VNS) to provide victims with case information and updates related to this case. Victims with questions may contact the Fraud Section’s Victim Assistance Unit by calling the Victim Assistance phone line at (888) 549-3945 or by emailing victimassistance.fraud@usdoj.gov. To learn more about victims’ rights, please visit www.justice.gov/criminal-vns/victim-rights-derechos-de-las-v-ctimas.
Release No. 26-097
