Tag: DOJ Probe

DOJ is Investigating Sam Bankman-Fried Connections: FTX Opposes

FTX opposes new bankruptcy investigations at it probes Sam Bankman-Fried connections.
FTX opposes new bankruptcy investigations at it probes Sam Bankman-Fried connections.

(Reuters) FTX has objected to a U.S. Department of Justice request for an independent investigation into the once-prominent crypto exchange’s collapse, saying it is already conducting a wide-ranging probe that includes family members of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

FTX said in a court filing in Wilmington, Delaware, late on Wednesday that the DOJ’s proposed review would only add cost and delay to its bankruptcy case.

FTX acknowledged “fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, mismanagement, and irregularity” in its past conduct, but said that its previous wrongdoing is already being probed by the company’s new management, its creditors and law enforcement agencies.

As part of its own investigation, FTX asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing its Chapter 11 proceedings, to help it secure documents from Bankman-Fried, members of his family and other insiders with information about FTX transactions that used “misappropriated and stolen” funds.

These transactions, it said, include a $16.7 million Bahamian real estate purchase under the name of Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried.

FTX is also seeking information about political donations connected to Bankman-Fried, asking wide-ranging questions about Mind the Gap, a political action committee founded by Barbara Fried, and Guarding Against Pandemics, an advocacy organization founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and his brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried.

FTX said Guarding Against Pandemics’ multimillion-dollar Washington, D.C., headquarters was purchased with misappropriated funds.

A spokesperson for Mind the Gap said it did not receive direct contributions from Sam Bankman-Fried, although Bankman-Fried made donations to some political causes it recommended to its donor network.

Related: Citadel to Launch Crypto Exchange After FTX Collapse

FTX Bankruptcy Update Today

DOJ probes Sam Bankman-Fried connections | Latest FTX bankruptcy update 2023.
DOJ probes Sam Bankman-Fried connections | Latest FTX bankruptcy update 2023.

FTX, once among the world’s top crypto exchanges, shook the sector in November by filing for bankruptcy, leaving an estimated 9 million customers and other investors facing total losses in the billions of dollars.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog has called for an independent investigation into its collapse, a request that received backing from a bipartisan group of U.S. senators.

FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, who worked with court-appointed examiners while leading Enron Corp and Residential Capital through bankruptcy, is prepared to testify that examiners in those two cases cost a combined $150 million and provided “minimal” benefits to creditors, FTX said.

FTX’s official committee of creditors joined the company in opposing the appointment of an examiner.

FTX also on Wednesday night filed a new list of creditors in bankruptcy court, which included financial watchdogs and government agencies from the United States, Japan and Switzerland, as well as companies including Airbnb Inc and crypto giant Binance.

Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his crypto-focused hedge fund, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. He is scheduled to face trial in October.

Related: Sam Bankman-Fried on AMC Tokenized Shares Before Arrest

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DOJ Attempts to Weed Out Crime with 75% Reduction in Fines

Market News: DOJ Offers 75% Reduction in Fines to Companies that Admit Crime.
Market News: DOJ Offers 75% Reduction in Fines to Companies that Admit Crime.

[Bloomberg] The Justice Department will recommend as much as a 75% reduction in fines for companies that voluntarily report wrongdoing to the government and fully cooperate with investigations.

Even companies that don’t voluntarily disclose wrongdoing but still fully cooperate with investigations could still get a 50% reduction off the low end of the guidelines for fines, the head of the department’s criminal division said Tuesday.

“The policy is sending an undeniable message: come forward, cooperate, and remediate,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite said in a speech at Georgetown University Law Center.

Polite made it clear that cooperators seeking declination will be held to a higher standard than your average or even gold-standard cooperator — the cooperation must be “truly extraordinary.” 

The Justice Department will distinguish extraordinary cooperation by assessing the immediacy, consistency, degree, and impact of the cooperation.

Prosecutors will expect companies to cooperate immediately, consistently tell the truth, and hand over evidence that the DOJ otherwise would not be likely to obtain, such as quick access to electronic device images, audio/video recordings, trial testimony, and other kinds of cooperation that “produces results.”

The policy also covers corporations conducting business internationally, as the changes will apply to all corporate matters handled by the Criminal Division, including all Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases nationwide.

Notably, the new policy is the third in a trilogy of Department of Justice memoranda addressing the prosecution of corporate misconduct and setting forth revised policies concerning the effect of cooperation by companies that have engaged in wrongdoing.

Years of Ongoing Investigations

The new policy was announced to further Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco’s October 2021 memorandum directing the creation of a Corporate Crime Advisory Group within the Department to recommend guidance concerning, in part, the nature of a company’s dealings with the government required to receive cooperation credit in resolving company misconduct, and to consider revisions and reforms to the Department’s approach to corporate crime prosecution.

The new policy also follows less than five months after the issuance of a memorandum further clarifying the Department of Justice’s policy against seeking a guilty plea where a corporation has voluntarily self-disclosed, fully cooperated, and timely and properly remediated the conduct at issue in the absence of aggravating factors and directing all department components, including the 93 U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, to review its policies on corporate voluntary self-disclosure and ensure it has a publicly available written policy.

At the same time, the September 2022 memorandum emphasized DOJ’s commitment to “strong corporate criminal enforcement.”

Polite likely had these pronouncements in mind as he concluded his speech. He entreated corporations to “come forward, cooperate, and remediate,” and to join the Department of Justice as allies in the fight against crime.12 But he also warned: “Failing to take these steps, a company runs the risk of increasing its criminal exposure and monetary penalties.”

Related Article: Citadel Under Investigation by DOJ

Source(s): Bloomberg.

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Tiger Global Hedge Fund Sinks a Massive 34% This Year

Tiger Global Hedge Fund Sings 34%
From left, Chase Coleman III, Scott Shleifer, and John Curtius. Photos by Bloomberg. Art by Mike Sullivan, Edited by Frank Nez

Tiger Global has an AUM of $95 billion, that’s $57 billion more than Citadel’s AUM of approximately $38 billion.

The monster hedge fund is managed by Chase Coleman, 46, who was up until now considered to be a hedge fund legend.

Tiger Global Management had a rough 2021 according to sources and losses are piling up in 2022.

Hedge funds seem to be in a lot of distress recently.

Let’s break it down together.

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Hedge funds face turbulence in 2022

Tiger Global

This year we’ve seen many hedge funds face massive adversity.

Hedge funds have been dealing with significant losses this year, probes from the DOJ, and scrutiny from retail investors.

Hedge fund managers once deemed leaders in their industry now have their reputation on the line.

Gabe Plotkin was named a great trader by Citadel’s Ken Griffin although the hedge fund had to bail Melvin Capital out due to the ‘meme stock’ frenzy.

Citadel pulled $2 billion from Melvin Capital in recent months.

Chase Coleman is in a sticky situation too.

Tiger Global Management is down 34% this year through March.

The speed of the reversal has shocked just about everyone, considering that Coleman is celebrated as one of his generation’s brightest stars, a standout among the elite money managers mentored by the famed Julian Robertson, Bloomberg.

Tiger Global Management treads rocky waters

The bad run has been fueled by massive bets on stocks that have been hammered, such as fast-growing tech companies in the U.S and China.

Tiger Global hedge fund lost 7% last year, its first annual drop since 2016 and its third total, according to Bloomberg.

Tiger Global told clients in a letter that it’s opening up both its hedge and long funds to a limited amount of capital from existing investors to bolster positions in stocks that underperformed

However, we see the results in the first quarter of 2022 has not been what the hedge fund anticipated.

Built by Coleman and his partner Scott Shleifer, Tiger Global has long been seen as a throwback to the industry’s glory years, when double-digit returns were the norm and ‘hotshot managers’ unerringly backed winning companies and shorted the losers.

Across the firm’s $35 billion in funds focused on public companies, this year’s losses have triggered a more than $10 billion hit to investors that include foundations, endowments and pension funds, as well as Tiger Global insiders.

Coleman’s personal wealth has dropped by $1.3 billion, according to calculations by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

Coleman’s hedge fund headed towards worst year

Tiger Global hedge fund may be on track for one of its worst years yet.

Tiger Global Hedge Fund

The blue in this chart indicates the hedge fund’s losses in 2008, 2016, 2021, and 2022.

The firm’s first serious bump was during the 2008 financial crisis, when it lost 26%, followed by a 1% gain the next year.

While markets were already jittery this year due to high inflation and expectations of rate hikes, Russia’s war against Ukraine triggered a flight from risk. 

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has affected every corner of the financial sector.

Earlier we saw Citadel and other hedge funds faced default on Russian bonds from tech company Yandex.

But Tiger Global Management isn’t the only hedge fund struggling.

Investors are pulling out $250 million from Coatue Management and the hedge fund cannot meet its investors demands.

We’re beginning to see this domino effect of losses begin to catch up to even the biggest hedge funds in the world.

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I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

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BREAKING: Citadel Under Investigation by Department of Justice

DOJ is investigating Citadel
The DOJ is investigating Citadel for market manipulation

Bloomberg just confirmed Citadel is one of the hedge funds under investigation by the Department of Justice.

Regulators are taking Morgan Stanely and several other hedge funds to court after several subpoenas were sent out earlier this year.

Bloomberg’s report confirms Citadel is one of the hedge funds on the list who the DOJ is seeking information from.

Keep reading to watch the Bloomberg clip below.

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Welcome to Franknez.com – this clip came about on Twitter where a community member shared the Bloomberg news. Citadel is under investigation by the DOJ and the community is spreading this like wildfire.

Let’s dive right into it.

Bloomberg: Citadel under investigation by DOJ

Citadel under investigation by DOJ Bloomberg

Citadel has been one of the hedge funds/market makers who has been attacking AMC Entertainment stock.

Predatorial short selling strategies were exposed by the AMC and GME stock communities after the ‘meme stock’ frenzy fiasco early last year.

Both these stocks’ share prices have been suppressed by dark pool trading, naked short selling, spoofing, and through OTC trading.

The hedge fund is now being investigated after subpoenas were sent to numerous hedge funds and banks who might be connected.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are two of the banks that are being ordered to court.

Among Citadel is a hedge fund by the name of Element according to the Bloomberg report.

Related: Chicago Tribune Says Citadel Securities Dark Pool Targets Small Investors

Other Citadel news

Citadel News

Citadel received a $1.2 billion lifeline from partners Sequoia and Paradigm early this year, the first time the company receives private funding.

The hedge fund is estimated to have lost several billions of dollars shorting AMC and GameStop.

Deputy Global Treasurer Michael Kurlander has also resigned after 4 years with Citadel.

He left in June of 2021 during the time when ‘meme stocks’ were at their peak.

The hedge fund announced late last year to its customers they would be imposed heavy fees if they withdrew their investments.

The company also said getting back in would be nearly impossible.

After a year of shorting so called ‘meme stocks’, the community discovered Ken Griffin owns company shares of News Corp., a corporation that owns Wall Street Journal, Market Watch, and a number of other platforms that have been attacking AMC and GameStop.

These mainstream platforms have lost a lot of trust from retail investors due to major conflict of interest.

Other recent probes by the Justice Department

Muddy Waters Hedge Fund Probe
Muddy Waters Hedge Fund Probe – DOJ Investigates Citadel

Muddy Waters was recently probed for flooding the market with fake orders.

Many retail investors doubted the SEC or DOJ would take action, but it seems actions spoke louder than words this time.

Still, only time will tell where these investigations go.

What do you want to see come out of this investigation?

Leave a comment below with your thoughts on the matter.

This is a developing story.

Related: Global Head of Operations at Citadel Has a Seat at DTCC

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Franknez.com is the media blog that keeps retail investors informed.

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Also Read: How Bloomberg’s Beloved Citadel Manipulates the Market


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“King of Block Trades” Is Being Targeted by the DOJ

DOJ Targeting King of Block Trades
DOJ Probe Update: DOJ Targets King of Block Trades CaaS Capital Management Hedge Fund

King of Block Trades, CaaS is now one of the hedge funds being investigated by the DOJ.

The last hedge fund we heard was being investigated was Citadel, which was confirmed by Bloomberg.

Since then, we’ve had no update until now.

And we’re going to bring you up to date with the market news.

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Welcome to Franknez.com – hedge funds are lining up one by one in a massive investigation being conducted by the DOJ. Here’s the latest update.

Let’s dive right into it!

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Who is the “King of Block Trades”?

Wall Street

The King of Block Trades is the name dubbed to the hedge fund CaaS by Bloomberg.

So, then who is CaaS?

CaaS (Capital as a Service) is a New York-based hedge fund with over $650 million in assets under management.

Block trading is when financial institutions sell one another a ton of stock through negotiations rather than through an electronic venue.

While block trading is not illegal, market activity proves the misuse of this strategy could be at large.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are two of the biggest banks currently being investigated for connections to block trading and colluding with hedge funds.

CaaS managed to establish close ties with Morgan Stanley only two years of opening.

Prospective investors say CaaS has boasted to them of quickly becoming one of the biggest U.S. funds dedicated to block trading, getting a first look at deals and gaining entry to virtually every IPO in the country, Bloomberg.

The firm saw a 76% return its first year in business.

Now the hedge fund is one of many being scrutinized in a sweeping U.S. probe into how Wall Street firms handle large orders.

Banks make extra fees from block trading

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley can earn extra fees helping hedge funds cash out, offering shares to investment firms with desks handling blocks, as well as specialized shops such as CaaS, deemed the King of Block Trade.

Market participants say that some traders have been known to bet against shares after getting calls from these bankers.

This prompts the question of whether the trade acted on non-public information, also known as insider trading.

The financial system has a variety of rings where everyone involved has to benefit, even if it causes system risk to the market.

This is what regulators are looking into.

A little more background on CaaS

CaaS

CaaS was founded in May of 2019 by Frank Fu.

Born in Shanghai, he came to the U.S. where he earned a bachelor’s degree in research and engineering, and a master’s in financial engineering.

He later landed at Susquehanna International Group, where he spent two years trading options.

Some of you might recall Susquehanna is one of the top 10 financial institutions shorting AMC Entertainment.

He then moved to hedge fund Laurion Capital Management.

Looking for additional ways to make money, he started wading into block trades around 2012.

Within a few years, he established himself as one of the top rainmakers at the firm and a key player in providing liquidity to banks.

The King of Block Trades has told prospective investors they had ties to about 30 banks. 

When Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse were forced to sell billions of dollars of shares from the Archegos incident, Fu was there to buy.

 A regulatory filing showed CaaS scooped up more than $440 million of the stocks that Archegos had been betting on.

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DOJ launches an expansive criminal investigation

Citadel Fired Several Portfolio Managers Prior to Investigations

Citadel Fired Surveyor employees
Citadel Fired Surveyor employees

Ken Griffin’s Citadel fired several portfolio managers and analysts at its Surveyor Capital unit in October.

According to Bloomberg, more than a half-dozen portfolio managers and even more analysts departed the institution in span of five months starting in May.

Coincidentally, employees began to get fired or relocated from the firm a month prior to AMC’s all-time high runup back in June.

But there’s more, and I’m going to break it down below for you.

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13 of 27 portfolio managers fired from Citadel’s firm

Citadel Surveyor

According to Bloomberg, 13 out of 27 portfolio managers who ran their own trading pods were fired from Citadel’s Surveyor unit.

The unit has since hired 10 new portfolio managers.

“Most of the exits were related to performance,” said Zia Ahmed, a spokesperson for the $43 billion firm.

Community, Citadel began to fire its employees prior to AMC’s all-time high runup; they knew something big was coming.

And they continued to fire their managers up until October of last year, moments before investigation announcements occurred.

In 2021, we saw the head of Citadel’s Surveyor Todd Barker resign after 16 years at the hedge fund.

However, the portfolio manager was moved to a different position in the firm meaning he was let go due to the severe losses the hedge fund experienced last year.

Read: Citadel loses billions during ‘meme stock’ rallies

Bloomberg announces Citadel is under investigation

Citadel under investigation

Bloomberg announced earlier this year that Citadel was named as one of the hedge funds under investigation by the Justice Department.

You can read more about it here.

But in short, the DOJ is investigating collusion between hedge funds and banks, ‘short and distort’ campaigns, ‘spoofing’, and other forms of market manipulation.

Short sellers have been highly scrutinized by the retail investor community and public figures such as Ryan Cohen, Jon Stewart, and Elon Musk.

Predatorial strategies in the market have allowed short sellers to gain the higher ground for decades now.

And activists from all around the world are saying enough is enough, the retail community has demanded regulators to step up.

Did hedge funds underestimate retail investors?

Losses in heavily shorted stock cost hedge funds billions of dollars last year

What do you think?

Hedge funds have gotten burned over the last year betting against plays retail investors are going long on.

AMC and GameStop have been two fantastic examples of how short sellers have been affected by the rallies.

And while mainstream media pumps that ‘meme investors’ have dispersed, will that wishful thinking lead to underestimating retail a second time?

Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

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Dive into the latest market news on Franknez.com.

Don’t forget to give this article a social share to raise awareness and expose the injustices the retail community has uncovered.

Thank you for being here today, until the next one.

DOJ Launches Criminal Investigation into Short Selling – December 2021 Announcement

DOJ Targets Muddy Waters for Flooding Market with Fake Orders

DOJ Targets Hedge Fund for Flooding Market with Fake Orders
Hedge Fund Under Investigation for illegal short selling strategies

The Justice Department is targeting Muddy Waters for flooding the market with fake orders.

This ongoing investigation is one of the many probes targeting hedge funds for illegal short selling strategies.

After the ‘meme stock’ frenzy early last year, retail investors have been demanding the SEC investigate hedge funds after they removed the buy button specifically for ‘meme stocks’.

AMC and GME stock continue to be heavily shorted today weighing in at a high +20% short interest each.

Will regulators release the pressure suppressing these stocks to create a short squeeze?

That’s what we’re here to find out.

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Welcome to Franknez.com – if you’ve been actively demanding for change in the markets, your voice has finally sparked it. Here are the effects a year later.

Let’s dive right into it!

Short-seller Carson Block receives FBI search warrant

DOJ investigates Muddy Waters for flooding market with fake orders
DOJ investigates Muddy Waters for flooding market with fake orders

The Founder of Muddy Waters Research was served with a search warrant by an FBI agent.

Muddy Waters Research is a hedge fund based in San Francisco, California with $227 million AUM.

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether short sellers conspired to drive the prices of stocks down.

The DOJ is looking at hedge funds to identify illegal trading tactics in the markets.

We’ve seen tactics such as naked shorting, high dark pool trading, and OTC trading just to name a few.

Gary Gensler just announced on a Bloomberg exclusive that 90%-95% of retail market orders do not get processed through the lit exchange.

This real problem allows short sellers to abuse the tools they have at their disposal.

Who will give retail investors 90%-95% of their return?

Hedge fund under investigation for “spoofing”

Spoofing is the term given to a tactic that illegally ploys fake orders into the market in to drive the share price of a stock down.

Millions of retail investors have noticed spoofing during intraday trading in both AMC and GME stock for over a year now.

The buy-to-sell ratio has shown us that short sellers are using this tactic to end trading days on red even when 80%-90% of the orders were bought for.

Retail investors have been buying and holding these stocks en masse but for months now the price charts don’t correspond to the demand.

Spoofing is a technique that has suppressed AMC and GameStop’s share price for more than a year now.

While short selling in itself is not illegal, hedge funds have overleveraged their power ever since retail became a real competition.

Hedge funds such as Mudrick, Anchorage, and Archegos are a few who threw in the towel.

Citadel Securities received a $1.2 billion lifeline from Sequoia and Paradigm early this year too.

The hedge fund lost billions last year betting against ‘meme stocks’.

DOJ investigates hedge fund for “scalping”

Muddy Waters Hedge Fund under investigation
Muddy Waters Hedge Fund under investigation

Scalping is a term used when short sellers cash out their positions without disclosing it.

By not disclosing it, the share price of a security does not surge.

The DOJ is investigating hedge funds for this illegal short selling tactic.

If hedge funds have indeed been using scalping to suppress ‘meme stocks’, then this too would make a lot of sense.

I’d love to know your thoughts in the comment section of the blog below.

BREAKING: Citadel Under Investigation by Department of Justice

Will retail finally see price surges?

Retail investors want their assets to reflect the price of the true demand in the market.

*Regulators must lift the suppression imposed on stocks and let the share price run its natural course based on its supply and demand.

This is what activists must demand of our regulators.

Several short squeeze plays are bound to take off once hedge funds and market makers are prohibited from using predatorial strategies under law.

Read: Regulators are taking Morgan Stanley and hedge funds to court

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Elon Musk: Hedge Funds Tank Stocks Using “Short & Distort”

Elon Musk news on hedge funds, short sellers, and DOJ
Elon Musk news on hedge funds, short sellers, and DOJ

Elon Musk, one of the most influential people and geniuses of our time is speaking out on hedge funds and the SEC.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO exchanged emails with CNBC on this exclusive take and shares his thoughts on short sellers and regulators alike.

And according to CNBC the SEC declined to comment.

franknez.com

Welcome to Franknez.com – today’s market news is significant because we have a high-profile influencer speaking out against injustices in the stock market. I’m going to go over big key points from the report.

Let’s dive right into it!

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Elon Musk on hedge funds and short sellers

Elon musk on hedge funds and short sellers

In this CNBC exclusive, Elon Musk says hedge funds have used short selling and complex derivatives to take advantage of retail investors.

Something retail investors who purchased so called ‘meme stocks’ last year found out very easily.

The retail community known as ‘apes’ have been standing up to the injustices brought forth by hedge funds.

Predatorial tactics have suppressed the share prices of AMC and GameStop to further refrain retail from squeezing short sellers from their positions.

The complex derivatives Elon is referring to could be an array of things such as options trading, HFT, swaps, borrowed stock, and even naked shares.

Which in retrospect are all predatorial tactics hedge funds and short sellers use to profit from falling stock prices even when the inflow is largely greater than the outflow.

Tesla CEO speaks out on publicity campaigns that drive stock prices to the ground

The Tesla CEO says hedge funds will short a company, conduct negative publicity campaigns to drive the stock price down, then cash out and do it multiple times over.

This tactic is what’s known as “short and distort”.

Hedge funds impose their influence on corporate media such as The Fool, Wall Street Journal, and MarketWatch to scare people out of their money.

The Fool - Forget AMC
The Fool – Forget AMC: “Buy this instead”

One of the biggest fear mongers has been The Fool.

They abused their reach to derail curious investors from investing in AMC Entertainment and GameStop stock.

AMC Entertainment was up more than 3,000% at one point and mainstream media caused many investors to miss the opportunity.

And for others, to get in late, resulting in several losses.

The conflict of interest derives from the connection between the hedge fund Citadel and News titan, News Corp.

News Corp owns the Wall Street Journal, DowJones Newswire, MarketWatch, and Barrons.

These are all companies that have put out hit publications attacking AMC and referred to a specific group of activists as ‘conspiracy theorists’.

On the contrary, the retail community is religious about facts and evidence.

Dark pools and naked shorting are only two of many injustices retail investors have brought to light.

The SEC Commissioner confirmed on a Bloomberg exclusive that 90%-95% of retail market orders are not processed through the lit exchange.

Elon on the SEC and regulators

Elon Musk has never been too fond of the SEC.

In 2018 he referred to the agency as the “Shortseller Encrichment Commission”.

In 2020 he posted this statement on Twitter about the SEC.

The CEO made another anti-SEC post on Twitter again after the interview with CNBC.

And retail investors are cheering him on for being a voice against corruption in the market.

The SEC has been held accountable as being implicit to hedge fund market manipulation.

They’ve imposed “fees” that have allowed hedge funds to continue their predatorial strategies.

There has been no serious consequence or justice protecting retail investor.

The agency has also failed to recognize the manipulation in both AMC and GameStop in a report released in December of 2021.

Most retail investors do not trust the SEC according to a poll conducted by community member on Twitter.

The poll below shows that out of 10,511 votes, 97.3% of investors do not trust the agency.

Why are hedge funds being investigated?

why are hedge funds being investigated?
Ken Griffin – Citadel Investigation

Hedge funds are being investigated for flooding the market with fake orders to drive stock prices down, a term known as “spoofing”.

Muddy Waters was recently raided by the FBI for using this predatorial tactic.

Citadel is being investigated too according to a Bloomberg report.

The Department of Justice is involved.

They are targeting several hedge funds and banks in relations to market fraud and manipulation.

Banks involved in the investigations so far are Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Bank of America is one of the top 10 financial institutions shorting AMC Entertainment stock.

The bank has yet to be announced in the probe.

Elon Musk told CNBC he’s glad to see the Justice Department is investigating short sellers.

“This is something the SEC should have done, but, curiously, did not.” stated Elon.

He spoke out against short sellers in 2021 during the “meme stock” frenzy.

This was during the time when retail began buying heavily shorted stocks en masse.

Opinion: We need more activists like Musk

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The retail community has done an incredible job at raising awareness of injustices in the market.

The ‘ape’ community without a doubt made today’s progress possible.

Now, retail investors continue to demand regulators to lift short selling suppression imposed on stocks such as AMC and GameStop.

We need more public figures to speak out on the matter.

Would you agree?

Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Read: AMC Entertainment CEO mocks hedge funds for the second time

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Citadel Pulls $2 Billion From Gabe Plotkin’s Melvin Capital

Citadel pulls $2 billion from sinking hedge fund Melvin Capital
Melvin Capital – Gabe Plotkin – Citadel pulls $2 billion in investments

Citadel just pulled $2 billion from Melvin Capital after the hedge fund has failed to recover from shorting ‘meme stocks’ last year.

Melvin Capital lost $6.8 billion in January of 2021 and has not been able to get out of the trenches since.

Now Citadel is fleeing a sinking ship.

Should this be a warning to short sellers shorting AMC and GameStop?

Let’s find out.

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Welcome to Franknez.com – smart money might not be so smart after all. So called ‘meme stocks’ continue to leave an imprint on Wall Street. Will they be able to get out of this mess?

Let’s dive right into it!

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Citadel loses confidence in Melvin Capital

Ken Griffin's Citadel pulls $2 billion from Melvin Captial
Ken Griffin’s Citadel pulls $2 billion from Gabe Plotkin’s Melvin Capital

Citadel also lost billions last year shorting AMC, so it comes as no surprise their reason to pull back from Gabe Plotkin’s Melvin Capital.

The hedge fund also imposed tight restrictions on its clients leading into the new year.

Citadel’s customers were given an ultimatum to either stay with the hedge fund otherwise coming back would prove to be difficult.

Ken Griffin also received a $1.2 billion lifeline from partners Sequoia and Paradigm in January this year.

This was the first time Citadel had ever received private funding.

With Melvin Capital down another $2 billion it seems it’s only a matter of time before this hedge fund caves into default.

The hedge fund initially held $12.5 billion in AUM.

It lost more than half last year and with Citadel pulling their investment things aren’t looking so good for the short seller.

Hedge funds that closed in 2021

Last year we saw a few hedge funds shut down including, Archegos, Anchorage Captial, and Mudrick.

Anchorage Capital closed after an 18 yearlong streak.

The short seller had 4 million puts of AMC stock before it closed last year.

Do you think Melvin Capital is next?

Leave a comment at the end of the article.

Will hedge funds survive?

Citadel pulled Gabe Plotkin’s Melvin Capital from deep waters in 2021 but now leaves them to sink or swim.

Hedge funds are currently facing deep scrutiny from both retail investors and regulators.

The DOJ is taking Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and numerous other hedge funds to court.

Citadel is one of the short sellers currently being investigated by the Department of Justice according to a Bloomberg report.

The SEC and DOJ are looking into the following:

  • Communication between banks and hedge funds
  • Proof of ‘Bear Raids’
  • Spoofing
  • And several other market manipulation tactics

Hedge fund Muddy Waters was already raided by the FBI earlier this year for flooding the market with fake orders to drive stock prices down.

Corporate media has been quiet about the incidents since they too may be under investigation for colluding with hedge funds on negative publicity campaigns.

The community has called out mainstream media for deleting articles online on AMC and GameStop.

Would you be surprised if they too came under investigation?

What are regulators doing about hedge funds and short sellers?

what are regulators doing about hedge funds - SEC

The SEC just released a market transparency proposal report outlining rules that will lift suppression on ‘meme stocks’ from short seller manipulation.

Hedge funds betting against AMC and GameStop will fall if these rules are enforced.

Regulators are looking to micromanage short sellers and track their every move when it comes to creating a short sell in the market.

You can read a more in-depth overview of the proposals here.

If these proposals go through, surging share prices will cause ‘meme stocks’ to squeeze shorts from their positions.

The SEC warns short sellers of “short squeeze” risks in the report.

Despite the progress, many retail investors aren’t fully convinced, though more seem to be giving the SEC the benefit of the doubt now.

Whether you believe regulators will take appropriate action or not, you cannot deny hedge funds are in serious trouble.

Citadel bailed out Gabe Plotkin’s Melvin Capital last year but is now taking their investment back to keep afloat.

What do you think is next for hedge funds?

Leave a comment below.

Read: SEC warns hedge funds of “short squeeze” risks in new report

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BREAKING: DoJ Launches Criminal Probe on Hedge Funds

DoJ Launches Criminal Probe on Hedge Funds
DoJ probe investigates hedge funds for criminal activities in short selling

BREAKING: The DoJ (U.S. Department of Justice) has launched a criminal probe on hedge funds short selling while breaking the law.

There are massive concerns hedge funds have been profiting from short selling using illegal means.

You don’t say.

This is what the ape community has been making noise about all year.

Ladies and gentlemen, things are about to get very interesting.

franknez.com

Welcome to Franknez.com – today’s market news is a direct result of the ape community making noise for a fair market. The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an expansive investigation on hedge funds.

Let’s get started!

Department of Justice Looks into Hedge Funds

department of justice looks into hedge funds
DoJ probe looks into hedge funds

According to Bloomberg, the probe is being run by the department’s fraud section with federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

Community, can you imagine how these short sellers must be feeling right now.

Their worst nightmares just came to fruition, and it’s only the beginning.

This expansive probe will be digging into how hedge funds tap into research and setup their bets against retail investors.

Furthermore, authorities are piecing together relationships between hedge funds and researchers, and hunting for signs of manipulation that cause stocks to significantly drop though engineered means and inside trading.

“Short And Distort” Campaigns

The SEC and DoJ are said to have gone after hedge funds for running “short and distort” campaigns.

These campaigns set up bearish bets and release misleading or inaccurate information about a company to drive the price down to profit from the play.

This sounds just like what The Fool, InvestorPlace, MarketWatch, YahooFinance, and Benzinga have been doing all year.

These mainstream financial platforms desperately attempted to divert the public from buying AMC stock by publishing false narratives about the stock, community, and company.

My publications all year were an effort to fight against FUD media and provide the community and public with honest news.

Now, these predatorial tactics are finally being investigated.

Will The Feds Step Up and Enforce the Rules?

The Feds have released a few hedge fund names they are looking into.

Anson Funds and Marcus Aurelius Value are among more than a dozen firms that are being investigated.

Citadel’s name has yet to come up in any of these market news outlets.

However, the entire list hasn’t been fully disclosed yet, though they seem to specifically be looking at Citron Research.

My hopes are that smaller hedge funds aren’t being used as scapegoats for the biggest market maker and hedge fund in the industry.

Citadel Securities and Bank of America have been on the top 10 list of financial institutions shorting AMC stock.

While it’s great to see reports of investigations, justice will be served when the manipulation in both AMC and GME is stopped.

The #DOJ needs to look into Citadel.

The Ape Community Sparks DoJ Probe

the ape community sparks probe

There is no greater voice or activist than the ape community made up of several millions of retail investors holding AMC and GME stock.

We’ve been using our voice and our platforms to fight for a fair market.

The ape community continues to prove it is a beacon for change.

And we will expose corruption where we see it.

Give yourselves a big round of applause because it’s due to your efforts that change is happening.

If the DOJ is looking into hedge funds, it’s because the community demanded it.

What has been done in the past about market manipulation?

Nothing.

The world needs the ape community to fight corruption and to restore balance in the markets.

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Related: Here’s why Citadel’s customers are about to lose everything

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