In the heart of the summer of 2022, the king of short sellers, Carson Block, has become in the eyes of the general public the masked knight of the American stock market policeman.
A few days ago, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), which is required by law to respect the anonymity of its whistleblowers, had to reveal that the creator of the fund Muddy Waters had helped it in the past to flush out the financial embezzlement of the Chinese advertising group Focus Media Holding.
In exchange for confidential information, Carson Block, known in France for having bet on the decline in the share price of the giant Casino, had then received the tidy reward of 14 million dollars.
Or 25% of the amount of the fine imposed at the time on the group listed on the Nasdaq and its founder, Jason Jiang.
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These revelations from the US federal agency come today in the context of a lawsuit brought by a certain Kevin Barnes, in a New York State court.
This financial analyst claims to be the co-author of the murderous study on Focus Media Holding which had been sent to the SEC to denounce its fraudulent activities.
With justice, he accuses Carson Block of having broken their partnership, hiding his contribution to the study and keeping for himself the entire reward… Kevin Barnes thus claims half of the 14 million paid to the spoilsport financial markets.
This case, on which a judge must decide in the coming weeks, highlights the ambiguous relations that the stock market policeman can have with short sellers,
