Meme Stock Influencers Face Revived Securities Fraud Charges

Securities fraud charges against social media influencers accused of orchestrating a $114 million pump-and-dump scheme were revived by the Fifth Circuit Thursday.

The US District Court for the Southern District of Texas had dismissed the charges on the grounds that the indictment failed to state an offense by alleging just that defendants intended to deprive their followers of “potentially valuable economic information,” and not a traditional property interest.

But the government did all that it needed to do to allege the elements of securities fraud, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said.

Had the appeals court ...