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Trevor Milton , the founder of bankrupt atomic number 1 trucking inauguration Nikola who was convict of fraud , has been pardoned by President Trump , the White House confirm to TechCrunch .
Milton was convicted in October 2022 of one count ofsecurities fraudand two counts of wire fraud related to claims he made about Nikola ’s advancement to investor . He wassentencedto four years in prison in December 2023 . He has been out on a $ 100 million attachment while he appealed that condemnation .
The pardon descend just a few week after Nikolafiled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy . The company has been working with the bankruptcy court in Delaware to try tosell the occupation , and had hoped to close such a deal by mid - April .
“ It is no wonder why corporate trust and confidence in the Justice Department has erode to nothing . I wish judges would finish believing whatever the prosecutors feast them so Americans could swear the justice system again , ” Milton enunciate in a command .
Milton was convicted by a panel . He was represented in that trial by Brad Bondi , a partner at jurisprudence firm Paul Hastings and the comrade of current U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi .
Now a free man , Milton has said he plans to release a documentary film that he believes will tell his side of the Nikola tale .
Milton founded Nikola in 2014 . The company did n’t enter the limelight until 2020 , when it became one of the first electric vehicle company to go public by blend with a peculiar intent acquisition company ( SPAC ) . It quickly became a heatedly traded stock , specially after General Motors declare a$2 billion stakes in September of that year .
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The company ’s destiny rapidly changed , though . Just day after GM ’s announcement , little - selling research business firm Hindenburg Research published a account hold in allegations of imposter perpetrated by Milton . The Securities and Exchange Commissionopened an investigating , and GMwalked away from the deal . Milton at last resigned , although during his sentencing earshot in 2023 he take hestepped down to help his trouble wife .
prosecutor from the Southern District of New York charge Milton inJuly 2021 , claiming that he had made “ pretended and misleading statement regarding Nikola ’s product and technology development , ” on social media and in TV , print , and podcast audience . They said Milton made these claims so as to “ induce retail investor to buy Nikola stock . ”
After he was convict , a judge ordered Milton topay his former company nearly $ 168 millionfollowing an arbitration casebetween the two side . That money was opine to factor out into Nikola ’s bankruptcy sheath . Nikola project to use those issue to settle a class action mechanism lawsuit against the company file by shareholders .
