| In Trevor
Milton Trial Robinhood Day Trader In
Wheelchair Is Blamed For Not Reading EDGAR
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Sept 22 –
The trial of Nikola founder
Trevor Milton for wire and
securities fraud moved, on
September 22, to General
Motors witness Daman, USC
social media and business
professor Dina Mayzlin - and
in between, a Robinhood day
trader in a wheelchair. Inner
City Press was there. Thread:
Assistant
US Attorney Roos: Play the exhibit.
Milton's lawyer Torrey Young; No objection.
Video of Milton on Bloomberg TV saying, "We
provide most of this truck, absolutely.
AUSA Roos: Was that accurate?
GM witness
Daman:
No.
Now audio of Milton interview with Financial
Times. He says, "Nikola brings to the truck
all these stuff that is delicate, all the
important stuff."
AUSA: Was that accurate? Witness: No. For
example, the over the air updating would be
coming from GM, their servers
Now cross examination of this witness,
General Motors' Daman, by Milton's lawyer
Torrey Young.
Young: When GM makes new vehicles, it takes
700 people and five years, correct?
Daman: Yes. But it was expedited for the
Hummer.
Young; Nikola in Arizona is smaller, right?
Like, 100 people then vs 1100 in the GM EV
[Electric Vehicle] program?
Daman: We started with fewer. Young: At some
point you learned that the Badger prototype
was being built, as a mule or show car?
Daman: I don't know.
Torrey Young: Did you ever speak about the
Badger with anyone from TechnoSport?
Daman: No. Torrey Young: And you were not
involved in any talks about the frunk?
[Front Trunk]
AUSA Roos: Objection. Assumes fact not in
evidence. Judge Ramos: Sustained.
Torrey Young: And you've never met Trevor
Milton? AUSA Roos: Objection. Judge Ramos:
Overruled. Daman: No, I never met Trevor
Milton. Torrey Young: No further questions.
Now after a break (next witness is in a
wheelchair), he's on: Joseph Ryan, with a
finance degree.
AUSA Jorden Estes: Have you ever invested in
the stock market?
Ryan: Yes. AUSA: What trading platforms do
you use? Ryan: Robinhood, TD Ameritrade, for
blue chips
AUSA: What's Robinhood?
Ryan: Zero commission. My portfolio with
them is riskier. Also WeBull.
AUSA: What media do you use? Ryan: WSJ,
Googling ticker symbols... Robinhood will
link to articles.
AUSA: Have you ever invested in Nikola?
Ryan: Yes. And those are my trades in it.
Milton's lawyer
Mukasey: Objection! Lack of foundation, lack
of authentication. Judge Ramos: Do you want
to come to the sidebar? [They do. Another
whispered conversation]
They're back. Judge Ramos: The
objection is overruled.
AUSA: How do you read your trading history?
Ryan: I was day-trading Nikola. AUSA:
Did you watch Trevor Milton on TV?
Ryan: Robinhood would like to videos
or transcript.
AUSA Estes plays video of Milton on Yahoo!
Finance, then another. AUSA: Did you rely on
Mr. Milton's statement that Nikola had
billions of dollars in binding orders, not
reservations? Ryan: Yes I did.
AUSA Estes: Nothing further. Judge
Ramos: Cross-examination. Mukasey: You
understand stocks go up and down, right?
Ryan: Yes. Mukasey: Day trading is extremely
risky, right? AUSA Estes: Objection! Judge
Ramos: Overruled. Ryan: Maybe.
Mukasey: Did you ever look at SEC filings?
Ryan: Not sure. Mukasey: Didn't you tell the
government when you met with them that you
didn't read SEC filings? Ryan: Maybe. I read
news -- Mukasey: I'm super interested in
your views on that, we'll get to it.
Mukasey: You are aware that on the
Nikola company website there is a contact us
link - did you ever use it? Ryan: No.
Mukasey: You bought and sold $60,000 in
Nikola stock in 34 minutes and made $1000,
right? Ryan: I don't recall.
Mukasey: You said you read Barrons? Ryan:
Barrons, also Reuters (pronounces it
Rooters), and other sites. Mukasey: I
have no more questions. AUSA Estes: Do you
believe you are a reasonable investor?
Mukasey: Objection! Judge Ramos: Overruled.
Ryan: Yes. Mukasey: Shouldn't you have read
some of the SEC filings?
Next witness is a professor at USC business
school who specializes in... social media,
Dina Mayzlin. She's citing herself on Google
Scholar
After a break, AUSA asked Mayzlin who much
she charges an hour for this. Mayzlin: $850
an hour. AUSA: And what did you use?
Mayzlin: Twitter, StockTwits and Reddit.
And so on... Trial will continue.
The
case is US v.
Milton,
21-cr-478
(Ramos)
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2022 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
