While Tesla’s CEO is the richest man in the world, Nikola’s (ex-)CEO faces up to 20 years in prison.
You have promising start-ups and you have start-ups that promise a lot. It is sometimes difficult to determine in which category a start-up belongs. Even for prominent investors. Tesla rival Nikola managed to fool everyone.
That there may be something wrong with the company was first revealed in 2020. Hindenburg Research released a damning report, accusing the company of deceiving investors. Some, however, question the source, because Hindenburg also casually shorted Nikola.
It is now clear that the allegations against Nikola were not false accusations. Former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton was found guilty of fraud by a US court last Friday.
Milton would have lied about everything about the Nikola One, a hydrogen-powered truck. He would have worked the appearance that there was already a rolling prototype, when there was not at all.
He would also have lied about the Badger, an electric pickup. He claimed that it was built from the ground up with its own batteries, while the batteries were simply purchased elsewhere. According to prosecutors, Milton lied about “almost all aspects of the company”.
The fallen Nikola CEO has not yet received his sentence, but he could face up to 20 years in prison. His sentence will be pronounced January 27. Nikola has already paid a $125 million fine to the stock market watchdog SEC last year. But that didn’t end the stocking for Trevor Milton.
Source: Reuters
This article Nikola founder convicted of fraud appeared first on Autoblog.nl.
#Nikola #founder #convicted #fraud