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Chamath Palihapitiya is accused of misleading investors over Clover Health

In a new report, Hindenburg Research said Clover Health, which recently went public via Chamath Palihapitiya's SPAC, is under active investigation by the DOJ — something it says neither the company nor Palihapitiya disclosed to potential investors.

Hindenburg said the DOJ investigation concerns kickbacks, marketing practices and undisclosed third-party deals. It also alleged that "much of Clover's sales are fueled by a major undisclosed relationship between Clover and an outside brokerage firm controlled by Clover's Head of Sales, Hiram Bermudez," with a former Clover employee claiming Bermudez "took efforts to conceal the relationship by putting it in his wife's name 'for compliance purposes.'"

Along with Palihapitiya, Clover is backed by Sequoia and GV.

Clover's stock plunged on the report, down around 12.3% as of 9.20 a.m. ET. In the report, Hindenburg said: "We have no position (short or long) in Clover Health because we think in this moment for public markets, it is more important for people to understand the role short sellers play in exposing fraud and corporate malfeasance."

 Shakeel Hashim

Shakeel Hashim ( @shakeelhashim) is a former growth manager at Protocol, based in London. He was previously an analyst at Finimize covering business and economics, and a digital journalist at News UK. His writing has appeared in The Economist and its book, Uncommon Knowledge.

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