| In Trevor
Milton Trial Utah Land Seller, Nikola
Retail Investor Bring US Near Resting Case
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
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BBC -
Honduras
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Sept 29 –
The trial of Nikola founder
Trevor Milton for wire and
securities fraud moved, on
September 29, through the
cross examination of Utah land
seller Peter Hicks to another
Robinhood investor, Mark
Schonberger. Inner City Press
was there, and live tweeted. Thread:
AUSA: Mr. Hicks,
did there come a time that you
filed a lawsuit against Mr.
Milton?
Hicks: The winter
of this year. AUSA: What is
the demand?
Hicks: $45
million. Under Utah fraud law,
it's treble damages.
AUSA: Who
contacted who? Hicks: The
government contacted my
attorney. AUSA: Did you invest
in Nikola based on that
[recorded] call? Milton's
lawyer
Torrey Young:
Objection. Judge Ramos:
Overruled. Hicks: Yes, I
invested because of the call.
AUSA: If it
turned out Nikola did not have
the dedicated routes, would it
have changed your view? Hicks:
Yes. AUSA: If they had no
contracts to produce hydrogen,
would it have changed your
evaluation of the deal with
Milton? Hicks: Yes.
AUSA: No
further questions
Judge
Ramos: Cross examination.
Milton's lawyer
Torrey Young: Mr. Hicks,
you're seeking fooorty fiiive
million dollars [says it slow]
from Trevor Milton, correct?
Hicks: Yes.
Young: But you sold the ranch
to Trevor for more than you
paid, right?
Young: And
you only sued after you found
out that Trevor Milton was
charged with a crime, right?
Your lawyers called and made a
threat? Hicks: I'm not going
to characterize it that way.
Young: You
proposed that Trevor pay $39
million for a property you'd
paid $4 million for, right?
Hicks: It was a proposal to
resolve the matter.
Young: And when Trevor Milton
said no, you sued, correct?
Hicks: Yes.
Young: You're a
lawyer, right? Hicks: I
haven't practices law since
1984. Young: But you have a
law degree, yes? Hicks: Yes.
Young: The phone
call, it was recorded by Lucas
Hicks on his phone and he gave
it to the US, right? Hicks:
Yes.
Young: When the
call was recorded, you were in
Massachusetts and you didn't
tell Trevor in Utah that he
was being recorded, yes?
Hicks: I think that's
accurate. Young: It was
illegal, right? Hicks: I don't
know enough to say that.
Young: You've heard of
immunity?
Young: Your
a real estate mogul, right?
Hicks: I wouldn't characterize
it that way. I did my first
land transaction in
1998.
Young: Let's play
the recorded call. [On it,
Trevor says he doesn't enjoy
SEC filings, that his forte is
not running factories]
Young: You've
heard that stock goes up and
down, right? Hicks: I have.
But while I was willing to
take the market risk, I was
not willing to take the fraud
risk. Under Utah law --
Young: Objection!
Move to strike! Judge Ramos:
Sustained. AUSA: May we
approach?
There's been an
argument about the
prosecutors' summary charts.
Milton's lawyer Brad Bondi
wants reference to Milton
buying hunting rifle(s)
omitted "for this New York
jury." They'll be referred to
as "miscellaneous" expenses.
AUSA reading long list of
exhibits.
Now next witness,
self-described mid-level
investor Mark Schonberger. He
lives in Fort Lauderdale, owns
a medical sales company and
trades on Robinhood. AUSA: How
did you hear about Nikola?
Schonberger:
Multimedia, stuff on TV
AUSA Jordan
Estes plays, again, audio of
Milton claiming Nikola had
built the Badger "from the
ground up." Schonberger: That
is important to me. I own a
Tesla.
Cross
examination by Milton's lawyer
Caruso. Caruso: You are
suggesting that the truck
wasn't built from the ground
up? Schonberger: I'm not
suggesting anything. Telsa
builds its cars from the
ground up.
Caruso: Were you
aware that early Teslas used
other companies' parts?
Schonberger: No. Caruso:
Because you don't anything
about building cars or trucks,
right?
AUSA: Objection!
Judge Ramos: Overruled.
Caruso: You
thought that the Nikola orders
could not be canceled?
Schonberger: I believed that.
Caruso: And you didn't know
that Hindenberg was a short
seller? Schonberger: Not at
that time. I just read the
information they
provided.
Re-direct. AUSA
Estes: You did research before
investing, right? Schonberger:
Yes. I saw Trevor Milton's
statements and thought you
could believe what a CEO of a
publicly traded company says.
Caruso: Move to
strike his legal analysis.
Judge Ramos:
Overruled.
With Schonberger
off the stand, prosecution
says they will not be calling
the other investor witness to
the stand. To fight about the
summary charts, Judge Ramos
will send the jury home for
the day.
The
case is US v.
Milton,
21-cr-478
(Ramos)
***
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