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by Mike Caswell

Andrew Left, the activist short-seller charged for a two-year scheme to manipulate several Canadian and U.S. listings, has asked a judge in California to throw out criminal fraud charges he faces. He says that his conduct, which involved uncovering corporate fraud and betting against overvalued stocks, was "universally understood to be legal" and was beneficial to the markets. Mr. Left says that he was charged because people on Wall Street pushed regulators and lawmakers to "go after" him.

The request from Mr. Left comes as part of a case in which the government claims that he misused his investment publication, Citron Research, to generate $20-million in trading profits. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) He frequently traded against his own recommendations, taking advantage of unsuspecting investors who followed his advice, the government said.

With the case yet to go to a trial, Mr. Left filed a motion on Wednesday, July 2, seeking to have the charges dropped. He protests the charges as an effort to target him for disseminating accurate opinions on the market -- opinions which he says are perfectly legal and beneficial. "By exposing corporate fraud within publicly-traded entities, Left increased price efficiency in the markets, prevented further destruction of investment capital, and protected retail investors from catastrophic losses," the motion reads.

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