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Authorities arrested Milton in New York early Thursday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Audrey Strauss, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said during a press conference Thursday, Milton deliberately set out to deceive what she described as \u201cretail investors\u201d by making claims he knew were false about Nikola products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At one point, Milton went so far as to have his employees push a prototype of a Nikola Class 8 fuel-cell electric truck to the top of a hill and then let it roll down so it could be filmed in motion even though it had no moving parts and could not be driven, Strauss said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Milton also showed off a pickup truck, the Badger, which General Motors offered to build<\/a><\/u><\/strong>, even though it was nothing more than a Ford F-150 fitted out with Nikola badging, Strauss said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Milton\u2019s legal team maintains he\u2019s innocent of the charges and will be found not guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTrevor Milton is innocent; this is a new low in the government\u2019s efforts to criminalize lawful business conduct. Every executive in America should be horrified,\u201d according to a statement from his legal team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTrevor Milton is an entrepreneur who had a long-term vision of helping the environment by cutting carbon emissions in the trucking industry. Mr. Milton has been wrongfully accused following a faulty and incomplete investigation in which the government ignored critical evidence and failed to interview important witnesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom the beginning, this has been an investigation in search of a crime. Justice was not served by the government\u2019s action today, but it will be when Mr. Milton is exonerated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Milton also claimed to have \u201cbillions of dollars\u201d in sold orders for the Nikola semi truck even though, in reality, he had none as part of a scheme to enrich himself by taking the company he founded in 2015 public through a SPAC deal<\/a><\/u><\/strong>, Strauss said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Strauss said Milton also exploited regulations around the special purpose acquisition companies, which start life as publicly traded companies with no specific products or services to sell. Unlike in an IPO, or initial public offering, executives involved in a SPAC are not subject to a \u201cquiet period\u201d where they cannot say anything publicly about a company\u2019s prospects. Milton used social media platforms to lure in retail or so-called \u201cRobinhood Investors,\u201d without any real knowledge of the company\u2019s genuine value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Federal postal inspectors reviewed Milton\u2019s various social media post to help build the case against him, Strauss said.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNot guilty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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More allegations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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