Trevor Milton, founder of electric car startup Nikola, is implicated in a new fraud case, which adds to previous cases in which he was accused of tricking investors into buying shares in a start-up based in Arizona, United States (US).
Reuters reported on Thursday that in the new case, US prosecutors accused Trevor Milton of defrauding property company Wasatch Creeks Ranch by making false statements and providing misleading explanations about Nikola’s products and business prospects.
Trevor Milton, who faces trial on July 18 in Manhattan federal court, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud that allegedly occurred between November 2019 and September 2020.
Trevor Milton’s attorney did not provide an answer to the case.
The new scam relates to Trevor Milton’s attempt to buy the Wasatch Creeks Ranch property from a man from Massachusetts. The man said Trevor would pay for the property using Nikola’s stock.
However, Nikola’s stock price was not worth the value of the property Trevor was about to buy.
US authorities say that Trevor Milton seeks to mislead investors through various means, including through social media posts, advertising on television and conducting interviews designed to boost Nikola’s share price.
