[RahulNagaraj]

Nikola Motors founder and former Chairman, Trevor Milton, has been found guilty on 3 out of the 4 counts of fraud in a New York court.

The federal court charged Milton with two counts of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud pertaining to some of the statements he made while being the Chairman & CEO of Nikola. Milton initially made tall claims of producing hydrogen-fueled Class 8 trucks to take on the Tesla Semi. The company even claimed to introduce a hydrogen-electric truck called the Badger with the help of General Motors.



However, reports from Hindenburg Research claimed that the brand's first hydrogen truck was staged, with Nikola just rolling it down the hill, giving a perception of it being driven. The company eventually admitted to the ruse without any apology.

Recently thereafter, Milton left the company, with the Department of Justice & SEC both opening separate investigations against his actions, for which he was indicted by a grand jury.

Milton could have faced up to 25 years in prison if he had been convicted on all four counts. However, since he was found guilty on 3 of them, it remains to be seen what the punishment would be.

Source: Electrek

Link to Team-BHP news

[Chimera]

I think a lot people had an idea , as to what extent the company was lying about was not clear but they knew about the false claims.
What is it with these companies and making such statements when they know they will face backlash ,similar thing happened with the the SSC tuatara as well .

[GForceEnjoyer]

This story is an interesting rabbit hole to explore for sure. I remember reading a long time ago about how it was claimed that Nikola's factory was powered solely by solar panels on the roof, but all it took was a person flying a drone over the building to prove this false. Also, the "working prototypes" presented at shows were powered by an electricity supply from the stage!

Additionally, the video of the truck moving was just using clever camera tricks to make it seem like the truck was going uphill on its own power. A fascinating story for sure. Good to see some legal action finally taking place.

Donut Media made a fantastic video on this at some point in time (ignore the generic overblown thumbnail, the video itself is very informative).

https://youtu.be/IKlZgI65gEk

[GTO]

This was one of the biggest frauds. Nikola showcased the truck in this demo video as a working prototype. Turns out, it was a downhill road and the vehicle was just rolling, thanks to gravity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiB5MHnL7eU

That feeling was confirmed earlier on the day of the big reveal—Dec. 1, 2016—when Milton held an all-hands meeting and made clear that no Nikola workers were allowed to talk to investors about the truck at the after-party. Simpson also noticed a new stencil on the prototype, a big “H2.” As far as he knew, there wasn’t even hydrogen technology in the building, never mind in the project he’d been working on for the past two months. When a Nikola executive asked him to plug in the prototype on stage, he was so shocked that he went along with it, he now says. “I was kinda smiling, but I was kind of gritting my teeth and thinking, ‘What is going on here? This is just too weird,’ ” he says.

As the governor of Utah climbed onstage, Simpson says he felt simultaneously proud and embarrassed. After all, he’d built most of a good drivetrain with the few resources he’d been given. He could have flown home early, but he wanted to stay and see what would happen—what Milton could possibly say about a project that wasn’t even close to completion. Still, he was taken aback when Milton told the audience that the truck was fully functional, running on hydrogen fuel cells.

From Bloomberg

Don't investors do any kind of due diligence? This dude has such a shady background!

[ajayc123]

This is hilarious. Love the choice of the name Nikola”.

To pull off such a scandal appears to be even more sophisticated than the Theranos one.

Our Bunty and Babli surely have something to learn from this guy.

If GM has the hydrogen cell technology, as is claimed in the video in post #3, then what is stopping them from launching it. Is GM claim also fake?

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

However, reports from Hindenburg Research claimed that the brand's first hydrogen truck was staged, with Nikola just rolling it down the hill, giving a perception of it being driven. The company eventually admitted to the ruse without any apology.

...with the Department of Justice & SEC both opening separate investigations against his actions, for which he was indicted by a grand jury.

Milton could have faced up to 25 years in prison if he had been convicted on all four counts.

Back in the 1980s when I was a small schoolkid, there was this smalltime burglar in my small town. He used to steal things that are trivial now, but substantial then: dresses, radio, iron, flasks and utensils, idli cooker etc. What's interesting was his way of operation. He will enter the compound only by jumping over the perimeter wall; and never through the gate even if it is fully, wide open.

This dude Milton could be a reincarnation of him Looks like he can't do business of any kind in a law-adhering manner. And he is hell bend on cheating, even if there's no reason to do so. If he can take all these risks and tension just create a fraudulent business, can't he build and run something that's much smaller and low profile, but legal? Don't ask...

[AbhiJ]

I love this video about this "scam"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88fWUZhYb04&t=365s

[CNMaLin]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

If GM has the hydrogen cell technology, as is claimed in the video in post #3, then what is stopping them from launching it. Is GM claim also fake?

GM does have fuel cell technology. Please lookup GMC Equinox. At the time I was with GM about eight years ago, it was only available on lease model in the US.

[Latheesh]

Don't we have a similar fraud happening here with the Simple Energy One electric scooter?

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

Back in the 1980s when I was a small schoolkid, there was this smalltime burglar in my small town. He used to steal things that are trivial now, but substantial then: dresses, radio, iron, flasks and utensils, idli cooker etc. What's interesting was his way of operation. He will enter the compound only by jumping over the perimeter wall; and never through the gate even if it is fully, wide open.

Meesha Madhavan?

[Old_Salt]

Reminds me of the so called next Steve Jobs (Theranos) and it’s 9 Billion USD valuation, all crashing down like a deck of cards.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ther...bio-2018-4?amp