Former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton Charged With Three Counts Of Fraud

It looks as though former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton has rolled down the hill face first into reality this morning.

That’s because multiple sources are reporting that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan is charging Milton “in connection with their investigation into allegations of fraud and for making false and misleading statements to investors,” according to Tom Winter of NBC.

CNBC has reported that Milton has been charged with “three counts of fraud” and making false claims regarding “nearly all aspects of the business”.

“Prosecutors say that when Milton unveiled their tractor trailer truck it had to be plugged into the wall, the headlamps were activated by remote by a staffer, and air had to be pumped in because there was a slow leak in the air lines of the truck,” Winter continued.

“And yes, prosecutors do say part of Milton’s conduct was video of the Nikola truck in the Super Bowl ad was not in fact of a working truck but was towed to the top of a hill. Breaks were released and it rolled downhill.”

BREAKING: $NKLA founder Trevor MIlton to be charged with making false, misleading statements. @Lebeaucarnews reports: pic.twitter.com/Oy3HwDJCyM

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) July 29, 2021

“Federal charges will be filed today,” Phil LeBeau said on CNBC this morning. “All of this started initially with Hindenburg Research saying ‘Hey look, a lot of the comments and claims that were made by Trevor Milton and Nikola regarding the ability of their semis to power themselves, videos that were shot, that they’re not accurate’. Ultimately, Trevor Milton was bounced out of the job at Nikola.”

Milton is still the largest holder of Nikola stock and owns about 20% of the company. 

Hindenburg Research, who was the first to allege that Milton was making false statements in a scathing report last fall, said: “We commend regulators for acting expediently to protect investors and hold Milton accountable for his egregious lies.”

BREAKING: $NKLA founder Trevor Milton has been indicted for making false statements.

We commend regulators for acting expediently to protect investors and hold Milton accountable for his egregious lies.

— Hindenburg Research (@HindenburgRes) July 29, 2021

Recall, among the bolder accusations made by Hindenburg Research in their scathing report about Nikola Corporation in September was the allegation that Nikola faked its Nikola One semi truck “in motion” video, which appeared to show a functioning big rig barreling through the desert, trailer in tow. Nikola later admitted that the video was simply a truck rolling down a hill.

Recall, in November 2020, we also wrote about allegations that Nikola used customer deposits for working capital purposes. 

Charges are set to be officially announced at 11AM.

NKLA shares are down over 7% in the pre-market, back to their lowest since May…