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Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Guilty of Defrauding Investors
- Case turned on whether his hype was lies affecting investors
- ‘I did nothing wrong,’ Milton said outside New York courthouse
Trevor Milton at court in New York on Sept. 12.
Photographer: Stephen Yang/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton was convicted of fraud for misleading investors in the electric truck company, a stunning downfall for the door-to-door salesman turned billionaire who promised to revolutionize the auto industry.
Milton, 40, was found guilty Friday of one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud by a federal jury in Manhattan, in a boost to the US Justice Department’s efforts to crack down on corporate crime. He was acquitted of a more serious securities fraud charge but still faces as many as 20 years in prison.