Andrew Left was paid millions by hedge funds while scrutinizing Madoff whistleblower’s work with one, prosecutors allege

• Prosecutors say Andrew Left worked with hedge funds but didn’t disclose it to the public.
• They said Left was paid from the profits earned by a hedge fund based on his trade recommendations.
• Left’s defense said his work with hedge funds was legal and his reports reflected his own views.

After the report on Cronos was released, Left wrote in a text to the portfolio manager that once he realized who owned the stock, it was like taking “candy from a baby.”

Prosecutors said Left was paid over $1.1 million from Anson related to trades on two other cannabis stocks, Namaste Technologies and India Globalization Capital. They also said he got the money through a third party that Left invoiced for “consulting services.”

The defense said Left may have consulted industry experts, like Anson, which was in the cannabis space, but that reports put out by Citron were his honest views. They said Anson, based in Canada, had better access to the stocks Left was interested in trading.

They also said Left’s “candy from a baby” comment referred not to retail investors broadly but to the “hundreds” of people who sent him vile emails after he published the short report.