The destiny of Nikola Corp’s founder will probably be within the fingers of a jury after he was portrayed Thursday in closing arguments by a prosecutor as a ordinary liar, and by his lawyer as an inspiring visionary being unjustly prosecuted.
Trevor Milton, 40, has pleaded not responsible to securities and wire fraud. In 2020, he resigned from the corporate he based in a Utah basement six years in the past.
Deliberations will start Friday within the Manhattan federal prison trial, after it was delayed for over every week after Milton’s lawyer examined constructive for the coronavirus.
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In closings Thursday, protection lawyer Marc Mukasey urged acquittal, saying there was “a surprising lack of proof” that his consumer ever meant to cheat traders.
“The federal government by no means proved fraud,” Mukasey mentioned. “There have been no crimes right here and Trevor Milton will not be responsible.”
In 2020, Nikola’s inventory value plunged and traders suffered heavy losses as stories questioned Milton’s claims that the corporate had already produced zero-emission 18-wheel vehicles.
Nikola’s founder will face a jury following the closing arguments of his wire fraud trial.
(Andreas Gebert/Bloomberg through Getty Photos)
The corporate paid $125 million final 12 months to settle a civil case in opposition to it by the Securities and Trade Fee. Nikola, which continues to function from an Arizona headquarters, didn’t admit any wrongdoing.
In his closing rebuttal argument, Assistant U.S. Lawyer Matthew Podolsky insisted the proof was overwhelming that Milton lied repeatedly to make it appear Nikola had produced operable vehicles fueled by hydrogen gasoline and that the corporate had billions of {dollars} in contracts once they did not exist.
Podolsky mentioned Milton needed to get wealthy and discovered that he may dupe traders into supporting Nikola by lies, like when he claimed Nikola had constructed its personal revolutionary truck that was truly a Normal Motors Corp. product with Nikola’s brand stamped onto it.
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One other instance was when he sped up the video of a truck rolling down a hill to make it look like the corporate had developed a totally functioning truck when it had not, the prosecutor mentioned.
“The lies. That’s what this case is about,” Podolsky mentioned.
He mentioned Milton went on tv information applications to inform his lies and tweeted them as effectively.
Podolsky instructed jurors to not settle for Mukasey’s explanations for his consumer’s conduct, together with arguments that Milton had the help of the corporate’s board of administrators and was not warned by anybody to cease conveying his enthusiasm for Nikola publicly.
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“That is the robber blaming the guard for not stopping him,” he mentioned.
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