NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Labaton Sucharow LLP announces today that it has filed a securities class action lawsuit in San Francisco federal court on behalf of its client Andrew E. Left of Citron Research against Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and its Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, alleging that Mr. Musk “artificially manipulated the price of Tesla stock” by taking to Twitter to announce fictional plans to take the publicly listed car company private. 

The complaint asserts claims on behalf of Tesla short-sellers forced to cover positions in response to Musk’s market manipulation at a loss.  The action also includes all investors that purchased Tesla shares at inflated prices and suffered losses after the truth behind Musk’s supposedly ‘secure’ financing was exposed.  Former federal prosecutor and Labaton Sucharow partner Michael Canty, who has been widely quoted by major news organizations, including CNBC, The New York Post and Reuters on the matter, states that Musk’s tweets “appear to be a textbook case of securities fraud.”

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a formal inquiry into Defendants’ statements, and recently subpoenaed Defendants as they dig deeper into the “factual basis” of the going-private transaction.

If you purchased, sold, or otherwise transacted in Tesla securities during the Class Period, you are a member of the “Class” and may be able to seek appointment as Lead Plaintiff. Lead Plaintiff motion papers must be filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California no later than October 9, 2018. The Lead Plaintiff is a court-appointed representative for absent members of the Class. You do not need to seek appointment as Lead Plaintiff to share in any Class recovery in this action. If you are a Class member and there is a recovery for the Class, you can share in that recovery as an absent Class member. You may retain counsel of your choice to represent you in this action.

If you would like to consider serving as Lead Plaintiff or have any questions about this lawsuit, you may contact Francis P. McConville, Esq. of Labaton Sucharow, at (800) 321-0476, or via email at fmcconville@labaton.com. 

You can view a copy of the complaint here.