Milton, 39, who stepped down from the company last year, is charged with misleading investors from November 2019 until around September 2020, according to a criminal indictment unsealed Thursday by federal prosecutors in New York. He voluntarily surrendered to federal custody and was freed by a judge on $100 million bail after pleading not guilty. The bail was secured by a 2,700-acre ranch in Utah owned by Milton, who promised to limit his travel and not to contact investors.“In order to drive investor demand for Nikola stock, Milton lied about nearly every aspect of the business,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss said in a press conference.
Failure to launch: Workhorse Group ousts CEO as production delays escalate
Auto industry veteran Rick Dauch takes over struggling electric truck maker 2 minutes read Lines of Workhorse Group C-Series electric vans sit outside its factory in Union City, Indiana.
Quarter after quarter of missed production targets finally caught up with Workhorse Group CEO Duane Hughes, ousted Thursday at the electric delivery van maker and replaced by auto industry veteran Rick Dauch.
Workhorse (NASDAQ: WKHS) has produced very few composite body electric vans in each of the past few quarters. Supply chain disruptions are the latest setback following a decision to change battery suppliers and a COVID outbreak that affected 36% of the workforce.
US charges Nikola founder Trevor Milton with lying to investors
Reuters/New York
Reuters
The billionaire, who stepped down as the company s CEO last year, was criminally charged on Thursday.
Trevor Milton, the billionaire founder and former chief executive of Nikola Corp, was criminally charged on Thursday with defrauding investors by lying to them about the electric- and hydrogen-powered truck maker.
Milton, 39, pleaded not guilty at a hearing in Manhattan federal court to two counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud over statements he made from November 2019 to September 2020 about Nikola s products and technology.
Authorities said Milton relied on a public relations blitz of social media posts as well as TV and podcast interviews to drive up Nikola s stock price, become one of the world s 100 richest people and elevate his stature as an entrepreneur.
One year ago, former Vice President Mike Pence rode in a new electric pickup from Lordstown Motors and proclaimed it was a new day for the Mahoning Valley.
Ohio officials hailed the company as a savior for the region after General Motors shut down its Chevrolet Cruze operation and took thousands of union jobs with it. The promise was a bold one: Lordstown would manufacture trucks that get the electric power equivalent of 75 miles per gallon of gas.
Now, the plant s future is in question as Lordstown faces multiple investigations and allegations that executives mislead investors about vehicle pre-orders. The politicians who cheered the deal want answers but some contend there were warning signs from the beginning.
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