A Scot facing fraud charges in the US has denied any knowledge of Tweets that authorities say were intended to manipulate the stock market.
James Craig, 62, or Dunragit near Stranraer said he only came to know of the allegations through the media and says he has no interested in the stock market.
He allegedly made up Twitter accounts to replicate that of "well-known securities research firms", according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The complaint from the SEC alleges that Craig then tweeted about two companies, Audience and Sarepta Therapeutics, on the accounts he created.
The tweets, which contained false information negative to both companies, made their stock prices tumble.
He is accused of buying and selling shares in both companies in an attempt profit when their stock rebounded, the SEC said.
The tweets eventually costs stockholders about £1 million, according to the federal law enforcement officials.
Police Scotland have aided the FBI in the case.
The SEC said it had filed securities fraud charges against Craig, of Dunragit, a village near Stranraer, Scotland, in a federal court in California.
Mr Craig said: "I have never been approached by any law enforcement agency telling me I am subject of any investigation. Of course I deny it.
"The first I knew of it, in all honesty, was when the TV camera turned up this morning and I thought 'what's happened here?' Somebody texted me about two minutes later.
"No law enforcement official has ever come to me.
"Nobody has interviewed me. Not even the local law enforcement have come to tell me about this."
He challenged US authorities to contact him directly.
Mr Craig added that he "never had interest" in making money on the Stock Market.
"I wish instead of making allegations over the airwaves they had the decency to make them to me," he said.
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