New York Dec 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an expansive criminal investigation into short selling by hedge funds and research firms, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Investigators are probing the relationships among the hedge funds and firms that publish negative reports on certain companies, often with the aim of sending the stock lower, the people said....

Anson Funds and Marcus Aurelius Value are among the firms under the scanner of the investigators, according to Bloomberg.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/us-doj...021-12-10/