Warning: This article deals with suicide. If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) any time day or night. Crisis Text Line also provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they dial 741741.
Alexandra Cardenas-Arnal told New York Police investigators that her husband jumped out a window from their 18th floor luxury apartment last week. She had been married to 52-year-old Gustavo Arnal for 28 years. They shared two daughters.
Arnal was the chief financial officer of Bed, Bath & Beyond. Under his leadership the company announced in early 2021 they were canceling the MyPillow line of products. It proved to be an unpopular move as over half of their customer base leaned patriotic with conservative values.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell confirmed that the retailer had canceled his product line at the same time as was involved with revealing actual evidence on behalf of America on issues related to 2020 election fraud.
Bed, Bath & Beyond was at that point the largest national retailer that stocked Lindell’s famous pillow and bed products. Lindell took the decision in stride as he received significant support from American influencers.
BBB joined other liberal companies who went woke by instantly alienating themselves to at least half of their customer base. The timing was terrible as brick and mortar retailers were struggling to stay afloat after Joe Biden walked into the White House and the pandemic caused an unprecedented rise in online shopping.
🔹Their chief executive officer Mark Tritton, was ousted in June and replaced by board member Sue Gove.
Arnal was facing a $1.2 billion “pump-and-dump” stock-fraud suit along with another liberal activist, Chewy.com founder Ryan Cohen and others accused of artificially inflating the BB&B’s share price.
New York Police Department officers were notified of an unconscious person near the building around 12:30 p.m. Friday. Later identified as Arnal, he died due to “multiple” blunt force trauma and his death was ruled as a suicide by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Arnals rented their three-bedroom apartment in the skyscraper — nicknamed the “Jenga building” because of its unique design — for nearly $18,500 a month.
The company released a statement acknowledging Arnal’s death on Sunday, September 4.
“The entire Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. organization is profoundly saddened by this shocking loss,” the statement reads.
“I wish to extend our sincerest condolences to Gustavo’s family. Gustavo will be remembered by all he worked with for his leadership, talent and stewardship of our Company,” said Harriet Edelman, Independent Chair of the Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Board of Directors.
🔹The lawsuit came after Bed Bath and Beyond’s stock suddenly increased more than 350% from July 25 to August 17.
🔹In July, Arnal sold about 42,000 shares in the retailer for about $1 million, according to MarketBeat.com.
🔹The suit was filed in United States District Court for the District of Columbia on August 23.
🔹The company then announced on Aug. 31 it was reducing its workforce by 20% and closing around 150 stores nationwide.
🔹The company told investors on a call on Wednesday that it would shift away from own-brands and start offering more labels and that it had secured loans from JPMorgan and Sixth Street Partners.
🔹The suit indicates Cohen and Arnal provided “materially false statements regarding the financial condition and holding situation” of Bed Bath & Beyond for their financial benefit.
🔹The lead plaintiff is investor Pengcheng Si.
“The defendants, knowing that the information they disclosed was false, took advantage of the inflated stock price and used fraudulent and misleading SEC filings to sell all their [Bed Bath & Beyond] shares and options at artificially inflated prices to unsuspecting and innocent public investors and then retained control of the profits,” the suit states.
The retailer’s shares have become a “meme stock” like GameStop and fluctuated considerably in recent months.
As Arnal did on August 18, Cohen also sold shares of the company. His stake was 9.8% through his firm, RC Ventures. This caused shares to plummet.
The lawsuit claims Cohen — who is also the co-founder of Chewy and chairman of GameStop — approached the CFO about his “pump and dump” scheme in March 2022, and “convinced Gustavo that their plan would be a mutually beneficial one.”
“Under this arrangement, defendants would profit handsomely from the rise in price and could coordinate their selling of shares to optimize their returns,” the lawsuit states.
Arnal allegedly worked with JPMorgan, which is listed as a defendant in the suit on claims the bank “aided and abetted” the plan by “enabling Cohen to use JPM’s accounts to effectuate such transactions and otherwise launder the proceeds of their criminal conduct.”
The lawsuit further notes Cohen’s involvement in similar plans, such as elevating GameStop to “meme stock” status.
“Cohen has historically employed pump and dump schemes to raise much needed capital and has ignited several meme stocks to jaw-dropping heights,” the lawsuit states.
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