US indicts Andrew Left in $16 million stock market manipulation scheme

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal grand jury has indicted prominent activist short seller Andrew Left on multiple counts of securities fraud for a long-running $16 million market manipulation scheme, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.

The indictment, filed on Thursday, said Left "commented on publicly traded companies, asserting that the market incorrectly valued a company's stock and advocating that the current price was too high or too low," the Justice Department said in a statement.

Left, 54, of Boca Raton, Florida, made recommendations as a commentator on multiple cable business news channels, on his X social media account and a website, it said.

"The commentary routinely included sensationalized headlines and exaggerated language to maximize the reaction it would get from the stock market," the department said.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Doina Chiacu; Editing by David Ljunggren)