The lawsuit accuses Keith Gill of being a licensed securities professional and manipulating the market.
Scooped by
Richard Platt
onto Crowd Funding, Micro-funding, New Approach for Investors - Alternatives to Wall Street |
One of the most prominent figures on the WallStreetBets subreddit that sent GameStop stock skyrocketing has been slapped with a lawsuit. The suit alleges Keith Gill (aka Roaring Kitty) is a licensed securities professional instead of an amateur investor and it claims he profited from the GameStop short squeeze by manipulating the market. “Gill’s deceitful and manipulative conduct not only violated numerous industry regulations and rules but also various securities laws by undermining the integrity of the market for GameStop shares,” the proposed class-action suit says. “He caused enormous losses not only to those who bought option contracts but also to those who fell for Gill’s act and bought GameStop stock during the market frenzy at greatly inflated prices.” GameStop stock rose to a record high of $483 eventually dropping back to ~$45. Many amateur traders raked in hundreds or thousands of dollars from the GameStop stock, some hedge funds lost billions as they scrambled to cover their bets against the company. According to the filing, Gill "actively worked as a professional in the investment and financial industries" for many years and claims he holds a number of securities licenses and qualifications, including a Charted Financial Analyst license.