Founder Used Burner Account to Boost Meme Stock Alfi, SEC Claims

The co-founder of a now-bankrupt advertising software firm posted phony, bullish statements about the company with a pseudonymous social media account to drive up its share price, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Tuesday.

Paul Pereira, who served as chief executive officer of Alfi from 2018 to 2022, used an account on Stocktwits to mislead investors about the company’s financials, according to a lawsuit from the regulator filed in federal court in Miami. He also used the account, which he created in May 2021 with the name “uptix12,” to disparage users who criticized Alfi, the SEC alleged.

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