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Andrew Left, who shorted GameStop three years ago but was unexpectedly killed by retail investors, is in big trouble again. The well-known Wall Street short seller was sued by U.S. regulators on Friday and faces up to 370 years in prison.

On Friday local time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice jointly announced that they had filed a lawsuit against Left and the venture capital firm Citron Capital founded.He was accused of publishing misleading information through social media platforms and making profits of up to $20 million.

The Justice Department said Left was charged with one count of participating in a securities fraud scheme, 17 counts of securities fraud and one count of making a false statement to federal investigators. If Left is convicted on all charges, he could face up to 370 years in prison, according to the statement.

The SEC filed a separate lawsuit against Left, alleging that he and Citron Capital violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, and if convicted, the SEC would require Left to return all funds he allegedly obtained illegally and pay an additional, unspecified penalty.

The SEC claims thatLeft allegedly used posts on his company and social media platforms at least 26 times to publicly recommend investors to go long or short 23 companies (including Roku, Meta and Nvidia, etc.) Then, Left quickly changed his position and did the opposite after the stock prices of these companies rose, thereby illegally profiting.

The Justice Department also accused Left of making false statements to the public and law enforcement agencies about his relationship with a hedge fund and falsifying related documents.

Left’s lawyers have not yet commented on the matter. The SEC and Justice Department investigations are still ongoing to determine whether there were further violations.

Left once shorted many Chinese stocks, and was killed by retail investors in the short-selling war of GameStop

Left is one of the two most famous short sellers on Wall Street, and the Citron Capital he founded is even more notorious in the stock market.

Citron Capital specifically looks for companies that believe their stock prices are overvalued or are suspected of financial fraud, and uses unusual means to dig deeper. In addition to studying the company's fundamentals, it also sends people to infiltrate the company, film the flow of people in the factory, and use drones for aerial reconnaissance.

Since the establishment of Citron Capital, countless listed companies have been shorted, including many Chinese companies such as Evergrande Real Estate, Southeast Finance, and GSX.Most of these shorted companies suffered a miserable end, with their share prices plummeting at best and being forced to delist at worst.

However, Citron Capital's short-selling journey was not smooth. In 2012, Left made a major mistake in a report on Qihoo and Sohu, which damaged the reputation of Citron Research. In 2016, the Hong Kong Market Misconduct Tribunal imposed severe penalties on Left, including a five-year trading ban and requiring him to repay trading profits and legal fees.

In January 2021, Citron Capital suffered the biggest setback in the company's history in the short-selling war on GameStop.

Under the short squeeze of GameStop retail investors, Citron Capital had no choice but to surrender.Left eventually closed his position at a 100% loss and announced that he would no longer publish short reports., and instead focus on long strategies.The incident was seen as a historic defeat for Wall Street short-selling institutions.But earlier this year, Left established a new short position in GameStop.