
Jury Clears Hedge Fund in COVID Vaccine Stock Fraud Case
A federal jury in San Francisco delivered a complete defense verdict in a high-profile securities fraud case stemming from a dramatic COVID-19 vaccine stock surge in the summer of 2020. Investors accused hedge fund Armistice Capital LLC, its founder Steven J. Boyd, and director Keith Maher of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme using misleading Operation Warp Speed press releases to inflate Vaxart Inc.'s stock price — allowing Armistice to pocket roughly $267 million in profits over just two trading days. After more than five years of litigation, the jury rejected both the scheme-to-defraud claim and the insider trading claim, finding that Plaintiffs failed to prove their case against any of the Defendants.





