Andrew Left, who was shorted GameStop 3 years ago but was unexpectedly killed by retail investors, has once again caused a big problem. This well-known wall street bear was sued by the U.S. regulatory authorities on Friday, facing 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 it had filed a lawsuit against Left and its venture capital firm, Citron Capital, accusing them of posting misleading information on social media platforms to profit up to $20 million.

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

SEC filed a separate lawsuit against Left, accusing him and Citron Capital of violating the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws. If found guilty, SEC will require Left to return all the funds he allegedly illegally obtained and pay additional and unspecified fines.

SEC alleges that Left is suspected of using posts on his company and social media platforms to publicly suggest 26 times that investors should short or long 23 companies (including Roku, Meta, and Nvidia), and then quickly change his stance after the stock prices of these companies rise, making illegal profits.

In addition, the Department of Justice also accused Left of making false statements to the public and law enforcement agencies in relation to a hedge fund and forging related documents.

Left's lawyers have not commented on the matter. The investigations of SEC and the Department of Justice are still ongoing to determine whether there are more illegal activities.

Left had shorted many Chinese concept stocks and was killed by retail investors in the GameStop short battle.

Left is one of the two most famous bears on Wall Street, and its Citron Capital is notorious in the stock market.

Citron Capital specializes in finding companies that it believes are overvalued or suspected of financial fraud, and digs deep through unusual means. In addition to studying the fundamentals of companies, it also sends people inside the company, monitors the flow of people in factories, and uses drones for aerial reconnaissance.

Since the establishment of Citron Capital, countless listed companies have been shorted, including Chinese companies such as Evergrande Real Estate, Southeast Rongtong, and GSX Techedu. Most of these shorted companies ended up miserably, with their share prices either falling sharply or being forced to delist.

However, the road of Citron Capital's short selling was not smooth. In 2012, Left made a major mistake in a report on Qihoo and Sohu, which damaged the reputation of Citron's research. In 2016, the Hong Kong Market Misconduct Tribunal imposed severe sanctions on Left for improper behavior, including a 5-year trading ban and a requirement to repay trading profits and legal expenses.

In January 2021, Citron Capital suffered its biggest setback in its corporate history in the GameStop short war.

Under the short-selling offensive of retail investors of GameStop, Citron Capital had to surrender and Left eventually closed out with a 100% loss, announcing that it would no longer release short reports and instead focus on long strategies. This event was seen as a historic defeat for Wall Street short selling institutions. However, earlier this year, Left established a new short position in GameStop.