Nikola’s founder and until recently chairman Trevor Milton was released on Thursday on $ 100 million bail, Bloomberg reports. A day earlier, the 39-year-old man surrendered after he was charged with three charges of market manipulation and misleading investors. Milton claims innocence.
A week earlier, Tom Barak was released on $ 250 million bail, the largest in the history of the United States of the $ 3 billion Robert Durst paid in 2003. Barak was charged with illegal lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. emirates.
Milton left Nikola, although he remains the company’s largest shareholder, in September over allegations of manipulation and fraud. From November 2019 to September 2020, Milton “brazenly used social media and interviews to make false and misleading claims about Nikola’s technology,” the indictment said.
The scandal erupted last summer after a report accused the company of lacking the technology it claimed. Nikola aims to develop and manufacture vehicles, including heavy-duty vehicles, that are powered by hydrogen. Among the most impressive manipulations was the filming of a TV commercial showing the Nikola One truck moving on its own – which turned out to be a lie – the truck was boosted and launched on inertia.
Shares of the company deleted another 15% on Thursday and are almost 80% below their peak.
U.S. prosecutors also say Milton’s allegations were aimed at retail investors who lack professional experience in the markets. Some of them have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Complex fraud.” Nikola’s shares sank after a devastating report
Hindenburg Research has exposed a number of false claims by the company and its founder
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