US prosecutors launch criminal probe into GameStop mania: WSJ

Loss-making US retailer’s shares soared from $20 to $483 over two weeks last month driven by social media chatter.

United States federal prosecutors and regulators are investigating whether market manipulation or other types of criminal misconduct led to a meteoric rise in shares of companies such as video-game retailer GameStop and theatre chain AMC, according to the Wall Street Journal newspaper. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal said the Department of Justice’s fraud section and the San Francisco US attorney’s office have sought information about the activity from brokers and social-media companies that were hubs for the trading frenzy. Prosecutors have subpoenaed information from brokers that many individual investors used to trade GameStop and other shares, the newspaper reported.