SEC Charges Hedge Fund Adviser With Short-and-Distort Scheme

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a hedge fund adviser and his investment advisory firm with illegally profiting from a scheme to drive down the price of San Diego-based Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., reaping more than $1.3 million of gains for the adviser and the hedge fund. The SEC’s complaint charges that Gregory Lemelson and Massachusetts-based Lemelson Capital Management LLC issued false information about Ligand after Lemelson took a short position in Ligand in May 2014 on behalf of The Amvona Fund, a hedge fund he advised and partly owned. Short-sellers profit when the price of stock declines. According to the SEC’s complaint, Ligand’s stock lost more than one-third of its value during the course of Lemelson’s alleged scheme.