Citron Founder Andrew Left Convicted on Criminal Securities-Fraud Charges in Los Angeles

Andrew Left, the founder of Citron Research, was convicted Monday by a federal jury in Los Angeles on criminal securities fraud charges after prosecutors said he used market-moving posts and television appearances to profit from trades he had already put in place. The verdict is a significant criminal conviction involving one of the best-known activist short sellers in U.S. markets, not a civil regulatory case.

The jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found Left guilty of one count of participating in a securities-fraud scheme and 12 counts of securities fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the Justice Department. Jurors acquitted him on four securities-fraud counts. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 31, 2026. Prosecutors said Left faces a statutory maximum of 25 years on the securities-fraud-scheme count and up to 20 years on each securities-fraud count, though any actual sentence will be set by the judge under federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

Prosecutors said Left’s fraud ran from at least March 2018 through October 2023. Their case was not that short selling or bearish commentary is itself illegal. Instead, the government argued that Left misled the market by first taking positions in stocks, including with short-dated options, then using Citron Research’s website, social media posts and television appearances to publish commentary designed to move those stocks before quickly closing the positions after the price reaction.

The Justice Department said the strategy generated about $21 million in quick profits. As one example presented at trial, prosecutors pointed to a November 2018 trade in Nvidia. According to the indictment and the government’s case, Left privately wrote, “Do you want to make some fast money . . . We can destroy it …,” then publicly tweeted, “Citron buys $NVDA,” and sold pre-tweet positions within hours for what prosecutors said was at least $960,000 in profit. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said after the verdict that “Andrew Left used his expertise to profit at the expense of retail investors, ordinary people who owned the stocks he targeted.”

Left drew unusual attention because he was not just another trader. He founded Citron Research, a platform that for years published reports and market commentary on publicly traded companies and built a following among investors. That influence was central to the prosecution’s theory: Left’s public statements could move stock prices, and prosecutors said he exploited that reach for his own trading gain. The trial lasted 15 days, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Citron Research said on X after the verdict that it disagreed with the jury and would continue to fight the case. “We disagree with the jury and this does not stop here. We will keep fighting for free, honest speech and opportunity, the backbone of this country. This is not over,” the account said. The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from FINRA’s Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group. Left is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 31 in Los Angeles.