Nikola founder and former CEO Trevor Milton made a lot of money while at the helm of the electric truck maker, mostly through stock awards that turned him into a billionaire after the company went public.
That all came to an end in mid-2021, when a federal grand jury indicted Milton on three counts of fraud alleging he lied about nearly all aspects of the business to bolster the company’s stock price.
Even though he has sold nearly $300 million worth of shares since being indicted, Milton apparently doesn’t want the jury to hear about how that impacted his life.
In a court filing on Monday Milton’s lawyers requested all evidence related to his “wealth, lifestyle or spending habits” be blocked from the case, saying those details were “unfairly prejudicial” and could mislead a jury.
According to a report by Reuters, Milton’s lawyers also argued that the conditions surrounding retail investors during the COVID-19 outbreak had no bearing on whether Milton had engaged in securities or wire fraud, and requested that evidence also be excluded from the case.
Milton has already attempted to have the case against him dismissed or moved from New York, claiming the case the incorrectly filed in New York when the alleged lies were where he lives in Arizona or Utah.
A judge denied that request citing the fact that Milton traded Nikola stock on the NASDAQ exchange in New York, and made false statements to the state.
Nikola founder Trevor Milton seeks to dismiss two counts of his indictment
