@icedquinn It makes no sense to me, shorting makes stock prices go down not up normally. so I have to wonder why the reverse is happening here.
@icedquinn yea im aware of the story a bit (didnt really look into it too much).. but what you just describe would be them long-ing the stocks (buying) not shorting.
I'm not entierly convinced who is corrupt here yet, still catching up.. sounds like the accusation is both sides are doing their own version of a pump-and-dump scheme which would be illegal on both sides if true.
Generally when stock prices go above a certain volatility it is common for them to be frozen as well, so regardless of if everyone is acting legally or not, the effect of both/eitehr sidemeans a very high volatility and freezing short sales (and sometimes even long buys) is very common and standard when that happens.
if that's a pump and dump then giving stock advice to anyone is a crime