Federal prosecutors and securities regulators in Los Angeles announced charges Friday against prominent stock analyst Andrew Left, alleging he made millions of dollars of ill-gotten gains by making public comments to manipulate the stock prices of companies such as Nvidia, Tesla and Facebook while also investing in the companies.

Left, formerly of Beverly Hills and now a Florida resident, traded on his reputation as a regular commentator on cable business news channels. He operated his business out of Los Angeles through his firm, Citron Research.

A 19-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles charged Left, 54, with securities fraud and lying to federal investigators. Left is expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles in the coming weeks, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

“Though Left represented to the public that his recommendations were to be trusted, behind the scenes, Left allegedly took contrary trading positions to reap quick profits off the stocks he either promoted or pilloried through Citron,” the Los Angeles U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.

In a parallel investigation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday announced a civil complaint against Left and his firm, saying that regulators uncovered alleged bait-and-switch tactics that netted them $20 million in illicit profits.

Left, reached by phone in Boca Raton, Fla., declined to comment, saying, “I’ll wait for my lawyer to wake up.”

His attorney, James Spertus of West Los Angeles, denied that Left made false statements. “He’s never once published an untrue fact,” he said.

“It’s just a defective theory on its face,” Spertus said of the allegations. “He doesn’t have a duty to disclose his private trading intentions.” Moreover, Spertus said, Left’s published reports contain detailed disclosures and disclaimers informing readers that he is trading in the stocks he writes about.

The indictment is the culmination of a three-year investigation by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles and Washington. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office wouldn’t say whether the investigation extended more broadly to other short sellers. The tactics involved in short selling have been a subject of concern to market watchers and regulators. The trading strategy involves speculating in stocks in which investors borrow shares of a stock and hope to make a profit by betting the stock’s price will decline.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has been cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration to resume launch operations after the company determined the cause of an engine failure earlier this month.

The company’s primary commercial rocket was lifting a payload of 20 internet Starlink satellites into orbit on July 11 when the second-stage engine misfired, leaving the satellites in a lower orbit than intended. They later fell to earth and were destroyed in the atmosphere.

SpaceX said Friday the cause of the misfire was a liquid oxygen leak in a line leading to a pressure sensor. The company — whose founder Elon Musk recently announced plans to move the company’s headquarters from Hawthorne, Calif., to the outskirts of Brownsville, Texas — said the leak developed when the line cracked due to a loose clamp.

The FAA said it authorized SpaceX to resume launches on Thursday since the mishap did not endanger the public, but the investigation remains open.

The Falcon 9 has been critical in establishing SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband network. It also handles commercial payloads and launches the company’s Dragon capsules, which carry cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.

The Falcon 9, which has a reusable first stage, has launched a total 352 missions, according to SpaceX. The company said the first stage used in the failed launch returned to Earth safely. Prior to the mishap, the Falcon 9 had not failed in more than 300 flights.

The rocket last failed in flight in June 2015 when it was carrying out an uncrewed cargo resupply mission to the space station. A Falcon 9 exploded on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in September 2016 during fueling while carrying a satellite payload.

The importance of the rocket to NASA’s space program has been underscored this month by the troubles experienced by Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which is on its third test flight to the space station.

The capsule, intended to give NASA another vehicle to reach the station, launched its first human flight June 5 for what was expected to be an eight-day mission. But it has remained docked to the station for seven weeks due to helium leaks and a malfunctioning of its thruster engines.

NASA and Boeing officials said Thursday that Starliner could be cleared to return the astronauts to earth as soon as next month, but there has been speculation that a Dragon capsule launched by a Falcon 9 may have to retrieve them.

O.J. Simpson’s Heisman Trophy, golf clubs, high-end sports utility vehicle and even his driver’s license will soon be sold to pay off a debt the infamous football star carried beyond his own death.

A Nevada probate judge agreed Friday to a proposal by legal representatives of Simpson’s estate to auction “unique and high-profile” personal property, according to attorney’s representing the estate. It is not clear how much money the auction will raise, but it is intended to help pay a portion of a civil claim by the family of murder victim Ron Goldman.

Thomas Grover, who represents Simpson estate attorney Malcolm LaVergne, said the estate was already “beginning the process to auction the items soon.”

The action comes a day after Fred Goldman, father of slain waiter Ron Goldman, filed a creditor claim in Clark County District Court for $117 million against Simpson’s estate.

Michaelle Rafferty, lead attorney for Goldman, said there were no objections from the Goldman family over the auction.

“Our hope is that Mr. LaVergne will use very reputable auction houses and that those funds will come back to the estate,” Rafferty said Friday afternoon.

Both sides are expected back in court next month.

Ron Goldman’s family won a wrongful death civil case against Simpson in 1997, which found him liable for the murders of Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson. The family was initially awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages.

The jury later awarded $25 million in punitive damages to be split between Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman family members.

The civil victories came after Simpson’s famous acquittal in the double murder criminal case, known as the “Trial of the Century,” in October 1995.

The 76-year-old Simpson died in April of prostate cancer.

Fred Goldman and daughter Kim lamented that “true accountability has ended” with Simpson’s death. However, Fred Goldman continued pursuing civil collections.

LaVergne was, at first, hostile to the idea of paying off the civil judgment, telling the Las Vegas Review Journal in an interview two days after Simpson’s passing that the Goldman family would “get zero, nothing.” “I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing,” he said.

LaVergne mellowed, however, and vowed in an interview with The Times to “handle this thing in a calm and dispassionate manner.”

LaVergne’s retraction did not surprise Rafferty.

“The situation changes dramatically with a death,” she said. “Mr. LaVergne was representing his client personally, and now it’s about the estate, proceedings and addressing creditors.”

Court documents from 2015 show the family has received about $132,000 of the total liability.

The $117 million claim includes three renewed judgments against Simpson from 2015, 2016 and 2022 along with interest. Statutory interest alone from June 3, 2022, to July 25, 2024, accounted for an additional $20.7 million. Goldman is also claiming a daily amount of accrued interest of at least $16,638.73.

It’s unknown what type of memorabilia or possessions remain on Simpson’s property.

Rafferty said she had not received an inventory from LaVergne and does not know ultimately how much the Goldman family will collect.

She said LaVergne was obligated to give notice about the intended auction houses, assets and opening bid prices.

“We’ll look it over and we’ll have two weeks to object,” she said.