Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Gained’t Testify in Fraud Trial

[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]

Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton stated he wouldn’t take the witness stand in his felony fraud trial, because the protection prepares to relaxation its case.

Milton advised the decide in federal court docket in Manhattan on Oct. 3 that he had chosen to not testify on his personal behalf, after virtually three weeks of testimony by witnesses for the prosecution and simply over a day by the protection.

Prosecutors allege that Milton, 40, misled traders within the electrical truck maker by misrepresenting its prospects in TV interviews and podcasts about orders for its autos and its potential to provide hydrogen for gasoline. Milton’s legal professionals have stated he by no means supposed to deceive anybody, that every one data vital to traders was disclosed in regulatory filings and that his statements weren’t influential sufficient to form their funding choices anyway.

The trial comes two years after Milton resigned from the corporate’s board, following intense scrutiny within the wake of a short-seller’s report after Nikola listed its shares in June 2020. The inventory’s preliminary surge turned small investments by hedge funds and others into stakes price billions of {dollars} on the time, reflecting optimism that Nikola might turn out to be a Tesla-like disruptor.

Prosecutors referred to as greater than a dozen witnesses, together with Nikola Chief Govt Officer Mark Russell, who stated he realized solely after becoming a member of the corporate that its debut electrical truck had neither a natural-gas-powered turbine nor a gasoline cell when Milton unveiled it. Additionally among the many authorities’s witnesses was Chief Monetary Officer Kim Brady, who stated Milton was so “hyper-focused” on the inventory value that when the shares fell $5 on their first day of buying and selling, he thought one thing was mistaken with the Nasdaq.

Milton has referred to as one witness thus far, Harvard Legislation College professor Allen Ferrell, who testified as an knowledgeable on economics and the inventory market, saying merchants principally shrugged off statements Milton made between the time his firm went public and the time he resigned.

Closing arguments are prone to begin Oct. 4. The jury is predicted to start out deliberating this week.