Once the trading halt is in place the term sheet goes to brokers...

Once the trading halt is in place the term sheet goes to brokers and their clients, no conspiracies here, just normal raise practice. no one can trade on the info because the stock is in halt, everyone will know the raise terms before it trades again

As for the short, smart money saw the irrational pump on the news that they were abandoning the tech project and maybe even guessed there would be a raise, again this is not abnormal if you follow enough stocks over time you'll see this over and over .. again, no conspiracies, just normal market behaviour