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The
jury found Milton guilty on one count of securities fraud and
two counts of wire fraud after deliberating for around five
hours. Milton was acquitted on an additional count of securities
fraud.
During the trial in federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors
depicted Milton, 40, as a "con man" who sought to deceive
investors about the electric- and hydrogen-powered truck maker's
technology starting in November 2019.
Milton, wearing a blue suit and green tie, shook his head as the
jurors confirmed their verdict. His attorney said he will file
court papers challenging the verdict.
Milton, of Oakley, Utah, was indicted in July 2021. He left
Nikola in September 2020 after a report by short seller
Hindenburg Research called the company a "fraud."
Prosecutors accused Milton of using social media and interviews
on television, podcasts and in print to make false and
misleading claims about Nikola's trucks and technology.
They said Milton's improper statements included that Nikola
built an electric- and hydrogen-powered "Badger" pickup from the
"ground up," developed batteries in-house that he knew it was
purchasing elsewhere and had early success in creating a "Nikola
One" semi-truck he knew did not work.
Milton made the statements about Nikola as it joined the
mounting number of tech and EV companies going public through
special purpose acquisition vehicles or SPACs. He also was
accused of defrauding the seller of a Utah ranch, who accepted
Nikola stock options as part of the purchase price based on
Milton's claims about the company.
The defense and the prosecution delivered closing arguments to
the jury on Thursday in a trial that began on Sept. 13. The
prosecution said Milton was obsessed with the company's stock
price and made the statements to inflate it and his own net
worth. The defense said prosecutors had distorted Milton's
statements about Nikola's plans to shake up the automotive
industry.
Nikola said in a statement after Milton's conviction that it was
"pleased to close this chapter" and said it will continue to
work towards creating value for shareholders.
The company agreed last year to pay $125 million to settle with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's over its
representations to investors.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Will Dunham,
Jonathan Oatis and Grant McCool)
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