NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday added a new wire-fraud charge to their case accusing Trevor Milton, the founder and former chief executive of Nikola Corp, of defrauding investors by lying about the electric- and hydrogen-powered truck maker.
The new charge concerns Milton’s alleged scheme from April 2020 to March 2021 to defraud the sellers of a property known as Wasatch Creeks Ranch by making false and misleading statements about Nikola’s product, technology and business development.
Milton previously pleaded not guilty to two counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. His trial is scheduled for July 18 in federal court in Manhattan.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)
