Nikola founder sentenced to four years for lying about company’s electric cars

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/dec/18/nikola-founder-sentenced-four-years-trevor-milton

Milton was the founder and CEO of Nikola Motors, an electric truck company. He was found guilty on three fraud charges in October 2022 for lying to investors about Nikola's progress in developing hydrogen-powered electric trucks.

In advance of Milton's sentencing, his lawyers submitted 35 letters of support to the court.

They also submitted a receipt for a donation to the LDS Church for 1,500,000 shares of Nikola Motors worth $23,872,500.00 at the time.

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/sentencing-of-utah-billionaire-trevor-milton-delayed-again

I remember that case. Milton told some whoppers to his investors. I'm at a loss as to who would support him.

'of course' ChurchCo will return the value of the 'donated stocks' to the investors who lost $, R I g h t ?

In addition to fraud, allegations of sexual assault

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Milton

"In September 2020, Aubrey Ferrin Smith, Milton's cousin, accused him of sexually assaulting her at their grandfather’s funeral in 1999, when she was 15 and he was 18.[45] The Wall Street Journal later confirmed several details of the accusation, including that Smith was, indeed, Milton's cousin and that Smith had told family members about the incident months after it had allegedly occurred. Family members also told the Wall Street Journal that religious authorities were notified, but no charges were filed.[46][47][48][49] CNBC later confirmed that Smith had filed a formal complaint with the local police in Holladay, Utah where the alleged assault took place. CNBC additionally confirmed that in 2017 when the #MeToo movement was taking place, Smith published an account of the assault on Facebook without identifying Milton by name.[50] In their reports regarding the sexual assault allegation against Milton, both CNBC and the Wall Street Journal reported Milton's age at the time of the alleged sexual assault against his cousin as actually 17, not 18, which could make the allegation into a misdemeanor instead of a felony.[51][52][53]

On September 28, 2020, CNBC reported that a second anonymous woman had come forward claiming that she had been assaulted by Milton. She later agreed to be identified by her first name, Allison.[54] The alleged incident is said to have occurred in 2004 when the alleged victim was 15 and Milton was 22. The alleged assault was reported as being investigated by the local police, although it is unclear if that ever happened.[55] Milton reportedly bragged to his then-friend and roommate - the two had a falling out shortly thereafter - that he "took her virginity in the theater room" and "I like young girls and I like virgins because they are naïve."[56][50] A local Utah television station reported in 2022 that at least three women had accused Milton of sexual assault - the two mentioned above, as well as a third which allegedly occurred during a modeling trip. All three accusations are beyond the statute of limitations.[57]"

Also accusations of academic misconduct (from the same link)

"He says he dropped out of college after one semester at Utah Valley University to pursue a career in sales and marketing, although federal prosecutors say, in reality, he was expelled for "hiring others to complete his work for him."[9] [10]"

Well, isn't he the delightful human being.

Do we think ChurchCo will return the 'donations' to the investors who lost money?


any bets on that?

...if Churchco invests enough money in stocks in companies like this one, it will soon lose all of that money it's been piling up.

I bet they sold the stock as soon as the certificates hit their desk. LDS Inc is a pretty conservative investor. Nikola is really not their style.

That was my thought too. Unless there was some kind of tax loss to be taken.

..with both of you. That pile of cash the LDS church is sitting on wouldn't be expanding if it invested in stocks like this one. Still,it's a lot a fun to daydream...

At least Nikola was investor money, not tax dollars. But the difference in scale is gargantuan: $48B (give or take) down the hole with Nikola vs. $535M (or so) on Solyndra. We'll never know how much money went into these scams.

Ethanol: "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

I'm not sure about your ethanol reference. Most gasoline in the U.S. is blended with ethanol, and gas near me has been dirt cheap lately, sometimes dipping under $3 per gallon. No complaints here.

The experiment with ethanol has not been a great success. It's been a great boon for corn farmers but isn't as cheap for consumers as petroleum, so it raises prices a bit.

But in his constant focus on liberal conspiracies, caffiend has neglected to note that ethanol grew out of the 1970 Clean Air Act, adopted by the Nixon Administration; and the 1990 revisions to that act, which were enacted by the George H.W. Bush administration. In short, the program bore the GOP's imprimatur, probably because corn farmers hail from states that generally vote Republican.

But hey, I'm sure the Dems are still responsible.

It's not the fuel or energy source petroleum, ethanol, lithium, or whatever -- it's how much net carbon is produced to generate the energy source. Adding ethanol does nothing for that.

The oil "shortage" that adding ethanol was meant to address no longer exists if it ever really did. The issue in Western countries is producing oil at a profitable price.

The question before us now is not a matter of profit or loss, but a question of human survival. We have to reduce the amount of atmospheric carbon by either controlling emissions or pumping carbon out of the atmosphere or both. Fear of nuclear power or big oil losing profits pales in comparison to storms, famine, heat waves, fires and deforestation, lack of water, and so on.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2023 02:04PM by anybody.