Shalini Nagarajan

Last updated:

July 2, 2024, 00:15 EDT | 2 min read

A lawsuit targeting Keith Gill, a prominent online investor known as “Roaring Kitty,” for manipulating GameStop stock prices through a “pump and dump” scheme, was withdrawn shortly after being filed.

GameStop shareholder Martin Radev filed the lawsuit Friday on behalf of multiple investors, claiming Gill sought to manipulate the stock for his gain. But a court filing late Monday afternoon showed the plaintiff withdrew the case.

The reasons behind Radev’s decision to drop the lawsuit are unknown. His attorney didn’t return Cryptonews’ request for comment by press time.

Still, the case was dismissed without prejudice, allowing for the possibility of refiling the lawsuit in the future.

JUST IN 🚨: Lawsuit against Roaring Kitty, a.k.a. Keith Gill, for his alleged role in promoting GameStop $GME, has been dismissed pic.twitter.com/RqWWUGHkmO

— Barchart (@Barchart) July 1, 2024

Investors Earlier Sought Justice Over Roaring Kitty’s Alleged GameStop Manipulation Scheme

Investors led by Radev claimed that Gill engaged in manipulating GameStop securities. They alleged that between May 13 and June 13, Gill quietly amassed substantial amounts of stock and call options. Following a three-year break from social media, he reportedly sold off some of these holdings.

After a long social media absence, the trader restarted posting about GameStop in May. This post was seen as a sign of his renewed interest in the company’s securities, according to the legal filing.

In early June, he then disclosed a significant ownership stake in GameStop through a Reddit post. The filing details that he revealed holding 5m GameStop shares and 120,000 call options with a strike price of $20. This disclosure caused GameStop’s stock price to surge over 70% in pre-market trading on June 3.

Overall, the trader’s actions around this time period are being interpreted by the investors as manipulative.

They claimed that Gill’s actions inflated the stock price, after which he dumped his holdings, leaving other investors with losses.

“[Gill] circulated and disseminated the false and misleading information with the purpose and to the effect that the price of GameStop securities would or was likely to rise,” the complaint reads. Now, the plaintiffs are seeking a court trial.

Gill Discloses Major Stake in Chewy

In a Wall Street Journal report, details regarding the true nature of Gill’s investments came to light. The report shed light on the timing of his options trades and mentioned that the online brokerage firm E*Trade contemplated removing him from its platform.

Separately on Monday, Gill unveiled another significant investment. He revealed a 6.6% ownership stake in Chewy, a company that sells pet products. This holding, valued at $245.18m based on Friday’s $27.24 closing price, makes him the third-largest shareholder in the company.

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