Trevor Milton, founder, previous chairman, and former CEO of Nikola (NASDAQ: NKLA), was found guilty of three out of four fraud charges made against him. These allegations related to making false statements in terms of Nikola's stock, in order to work in the company's favor. The other types of fraud that Milton was accused of were wire fraud and securities fraud.
"Trevor Milton lied to Nikola's investors - over and over and over again. That's fraud, plain and simple," Damien Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. More specifically, Milton said that Nikola established an electric- and hydrogen-powered Badger pickup truck from the "ground up."
Prosecutors on the jury that began in a trial that started on September 13 revealed that Milton was overly concerned with the stock price of Nikola, which is what led him to make false statements about the company in addition to his own net worth. The defense attorney stated that Milton's words regarding Nikola's plans were "distorted" in order to wreak havoc on the car industry as a whole. After Milton's conviction, Nikola stated that it was "pleased to close this chapter" and to move on.
Although Milton was found guilty of such serious charges, he was also acquitted of an even more serious securities fraud charge. It seems as though he will deal with over 20 years in jail as a result of the conviction of these crimes.
"I think the evidence was clear," an anonymous Juror No. 5 said after the trial was concluded and the verdict was announced.
As soon as Milton was asked to leave Nikola, the company's shares diminished considerably (back in September 2020). He was found to be guilty of several fraud charges made by Hindenburg Research. Directly after Milton was forced to leave Nikola as a result of these charges brought against him, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission both opened up investigations regarding these types of issues. All the charges were brought against Milton In July 2021 (three allegations of fraud) and June 2022 (a fourth charge).