SEC Short-and-Distort Scheme

On Sep. 12, SEC charged hedge fund for short-and-distort scheme.

  • Lemelson Capital profited from driving down price of Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

Alleged Violations

  • Defendant took a short position in May 2014, on behalf of The Amvona Fund.
  • Gregory Lemelson then issued false information about Ligand so the price fell.
  • Ligand’s stock lost more than one-third of its value due to Lemelson’s scheme.
  • Defendant made over $1.3mn of gain for himself and the Amvona hedge fund.

Enforcement

  • Lemelson and Lemelson Capital to return ill-gotten gains, interest and penalty.
  • Amvona named as relief defendant, return gains it made because of Lemelson.