(Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice on Friday sued short seller Citron Research and its founder Andrew Left for alleged securities fraud.

Left used his social media platforms on at least 26 occasions to publicly recommend taking a position in companies, only for him to reverse his firm's position once the stocks moved, the SEC alleged.

The Justice Department also charged Left with one count of engaging in a securities fraud scheme, 17 counts of securities fraud and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)