The United States v. Trevor Milton

The United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York today held a press conference to discuss the fraud charges indicted against Nikola (NASDAQ: NKLA) founder and former CEO and executive chairman, Trevor Milton. The conference was headed by United States Attorney, Audrey Strauss.

Strauss laid out the list of fraud charges against Milton, which includes charges that the former CEO repeatedly made false and misleading statements surrounding product development and technological advancements.

The Nikola One is a semi-truck prototype that Milton claimed could be driven under its own power. Milton released a video of the truck as proof. It was later revealed that the truck was not moving under its own power but was taken to the top of a hill and filmed being pushed.

The Badger, a pickup truck being developed by the Nikola company, was revealed to be nothing more than a ford F150, made up with Nikola branding.

Orders for these trucks were supposed to bring in “billions” according to Milton. However, he implied that the orders were set in stone when customers actually had the option to cancel orders if they felt the need. An important distinction considering the trucks had not yet been produced.

Milton also claimed that the company was producing hydrogen at a price that was four times cheaper than the prevailing market price.

Milton was arrested earlier today and will be brought before Judge Sarah Netburn later today. Strauss called this a “straightforward case” but asked that any victims or anybody with information to please contact her office at [email protected].

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]

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