True, but if they sell a massive position and the stock tanks, and a bunch of little guys are left to hold the bag, I could see the SEC definitely investigating it as a pump and dump.
If the bunch of the little guys invested each just few hundred, it is not that a big loss. So if they end up holding the bag, it will be distributed among big crowd, where each member would be missing just a little.
Of course, if someone went above that and invested an amount, where losing it would hurt, that's different.
Of course, if someone went above that and invested an amount, where losing it would hurt, that's different.