by Electric vehicle start-ups have sprung up in recent years, but few of them have been successful, and there are many related fraud and counterfeiting problems in the market. Nikola founder Trevor Milton was recently convicted of fraud after more than a year of trial.
Nikola was founded in 2014 and then went public in 2020, when founder and president Trevor Milton aggressively promoted the company, and it went public with a lot of momentum, and its stock price briefly surpassed that of traditional automaker Ford. However, it was later accused by the short-selling company of inaccurate data. Although Nikola once refuted the accusation and stated that it had taken legal action to maintain his reputation, Trevor Milton resigned after the stock price plummeted, and he himself was also charged by the authorities in 2021 with four counts. Fraud charges.
A federal court recently found him guilty of three of four counts, including one count of securities fraud and two of wire fraud. Prosecutor Damien Williams said Trevor Milton had repeatedly lied, making it a clear fraud. Trevor Milton has been accused of making false reports in various aspects, such as product pre-order numbers and technology development progress. Prosecutors believe the case should act as a deterrent to others who make false statements to deceive investors. And Nikola has paid investors $125 million to settle civil lawsuits last year.
source:CNBC
