The U.S. Securities and Exchange Fee charged Trevor Milton, the founder and previous CEO of electrical truck maker Nikola, with fraud. The agency claimed Milton frequently furnished phony and misleading data to buyers, which was usually communicated to them by means of social media.

Trevor Milton
Milton, who founded Nikola in 2015, helped the company go public by means of a special intent acquisition company (SPAC). In accordance to the SEC’s complaint, throughout that time and right after Nikola was publicly traded, he acted as Nikola’s major spokesperson conversing to the media and speaking instantly with buyers by means of social media.
“Having picked to boost Nikola by means of social media, Milton was obligated underneath the securities legislation to talk totally, accurately, and truthfully,” claimed Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “That obligation exists for all public company officers, even those people whose companies have only recently entered the public marketplaces by means of SPAC transactions.”
Milton allegedly encouraged buyers to adhere to him on social media to get “accurate information” about the company “faster than everywhere else.” The SEC alleges Milton utilised his extensive media system “to frequently mislead buyers about, among the other things, Nikola’s technological developments, solutions, in-residence generation abilities, and commercial achievements.”
Amongst the misleading statements Milton made, specific in the SEC’s complaint, was falsely saying “Nikola had created a ‘game-changing’ battery technology and that Nikola was manufacturing and producing a number of essential automobile parts ‘in-residence.’”
The complaint also alleges that Milton gained tens of hundreds of thousands of pounds in private advantages as a result of his misconduct.
“We allege that Milton frequently made promises, mainly by means of social media, that possibly misstated or far exceeded what Nikola and its solutions essentially did or could do,” claimed David Peavler, regional director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Workplace. “Public company officers are not able to say what ever they want on social media devoid of regard for the federal securities legislation. The exact principles use, and the SEC will keep those people who make materially phony and misleading statements accountable irrespective of the interaction channel they use.”
The SEC complaint seeks a long-lasting injunction, a conduct-dependent injunction, an officer and director bar, disgorgement with prejudgment curiosity, and civil penalties.
Individually, U.S. prosecutors criminally charged Milton on Thursday. The indictment alleges that from November 2019 by means of September 2020, Milton made phony and misleading statements about “nearly all features of the business” to improve the company’s inventory. A grand jury charged him with two counts of securities fraud and 1 rely of wire fraud.
Hans Andreas Starheim/ZERO
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