Nikola (NASDAQ: NKLA) continues to be embroiled in controversy.  The electric vehicle manufacturer's founder and former executive chairman Trevor Milton has been accused of sexually assaulting two women. 

One of the women is Milton’s cousin Aubrey Ferrin Smith. She was 15 and her cousin was 17 when the incident took place. The alleged assault happened in 1999, at their grandfather’s funeral. 

Smith filed a complaint with the Holladay, Utah police department on Saturday. This was confirmed by Sgt. Melody Cutler with the Unified Police Department. 

Smith said the alleged assault took place at her uncle’s house when the two cousins were watching TV alone. The cousins are from a Mormon family. She claimed that she reported the assault to friends and her mother. She also went to the bishop of her church in Naperville, Illinois.

She went public with accusations against Milton on social media, in 2017 on Facebook and last week on Twitter.

Smith said, “When I was assaulted, I was 15. I didn’t want to tell anyone, because I figured I should have known better,” on her Facebook account. She also described confronting Milton years later and he said, "He was only apologizing because he was my cousin.”

A second woman comes forward accusing Trevor Milton

The second woman’s complaint was filed with the police in St. George, Utah on Friday. St. George Police Department Capt. Mike Giles confirmed that a complaint was filed.

The victim was 15 and Milton was 22 when the alleged assault happened in 2004. As a sexual assault victim, her identity is being protected.

The woman was working as Milton’s assistant at St. George Security & Alarms. The office had a movie room where the alleged assault took place. A police official in St. George confirmed that a formal complaint involving a minor was filed.

The woman is now 32 and an attorney who claimed to have spent the last 16 years trying to forget the event.  

“He was in a position of power and he would give me a ride home from that job and this happened at the end of one of the days that I worked there and I was somewhat at his mercy because I couldn’t even go home until he was going to give me a ride home,” the woman explained.

Craig Johnson, a former Utah prosecutor is representing both women. 

A spokesman for Milton said he “strongly denies these false allegations.” The spokesman did not say whether Milton has been in touch with the Utah authorities or give any details of his account of the alleged incidents.

“At no point in his life has Mr. Milton ever engaged in any inappropriate physical contact with anyone,” the spokesman for Milton told The Post in a statement.

Trevor Milton still in freefall

The allegations of sexual assault are the latest controversy engulfing the 38-year-old founder of the electric vehicle manufacturer. Milton who once billed himself as the “Tesla killer."

On June 4,  Nikola went public following a reverse merger with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: VTIQ), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). 

Nikola debuted with a $12 billion market value. Less than a week later it mushroomed to $28.8 billion. Milton became a Wall Street billionaire in spite of the fact, that Nikola hasn't produced any ready-to-market vehicles. There was also no real evidence that the company is developing hydrogen-based technology. 

On September 8, General Motors and Nikola announced a strategic merger. Both companies’ stock soared with the announcement. 

Hindenburg's Research, a short-seller, and other similar research firms exposed Nikola and Milton's alleged fraud and false accounting. Usually, prior to releasing their report, the research company shorts the stock. 

On September 10, the Hindenburg Research Report went public and everything started tanking. The short-seller accused the newly-minted billionaire of committing fraud. The accusations were detailed and seemed credible as it included facts describing how Milton lied about Nikola’s technology.

After Hindenburg Research went public with its report, Nikola's stock fell and it is assumed that the short-seller profited.

On September 21, the same day as Ms. Smith made her twitter accusation, Milton stepped down from Nikola's Board. 

Both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are reportedly investigating Nikola and Milton. Two police departments in Utah are investigating the sexual abuse complaints against him.

----------------------------------------

Have a story you want USA Herald to cover? Submit a tip here and if we think it's newsworthy, we'll follow up on it.

Want to contribute a story? We also accept article submissions -- check out our writer's guidelines here.