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The
SEC said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington
that Burns misrepresented preorders Lordstown had received for
its full-size electric pickup truck around the time it went
public in the fall of 2020.
Burns agreed to pay a $175,000 penalty and be barred from
serving as an officer or director of a public company for two
years.
Spokespeople for the SEC and for Burns' company, LAS Capital,
did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Burns founded Lordstown in 2019, and the company went public
through a merger with a blank-check company the following year.
He stepped down as CEO and board chairman in June 2021 after a
short seller report cast doubt on Lordstown's statements that it
had received 100,000 preorders from commercial fleets.
An investigation by Lordstown's board later found that most
preorders were from intermediaries that had agreed to find
buyers for the trucks.
The vehicle maker settled with the SEC in February over claims
it had misled investors.
Clark Schaefer Hackett & Co, which acted as Lordstown's adviser
and auditor, agreed to pay more than $80,000 in a settlement
with the regulator.
Lordstown filed for bankruptcy in 2023. Burns, who sold his
remaining stake in Lordstown last year, received court approval
to purchase the truck maker's manufacturing assets and
intellectual property through his company LAS Capital in
October.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler
and Nia Williams)
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