Nicola founder Trevor Milton was formally charged with sexual assault two women, including his own cousin, when he was a teenager years ago, according to a new report.
The allegations add to the controversy surrounding the 38-year-old Fig Head of an electric vehicle startup, who last week accused Nicola of lying about the company’s technology.
One of the women, Milton’s cousin the Bray Ferrin Smith, accused him of groping her at her grandfather’s funeral in September 1999, when she was 15 and 17 years old.
CMBC reported late Monday night that Smith first made the allegations on Twitter last week and on Saturday filed a formal complaint with police in Hotade, Utah.
Another woman, who has not been publicly identified, claimed that Milton had penetrated her vagina with her fingers when she was 22 and was a 15-year-old ran fee assistant at a security company, according to CNBC.
The woman told the outlet that Milton had allegedly put her hands down “in a movie room” in 2004 at a company office in St. George, Utah.
“He was in a position of authority and he would give me a ride home from that job and a day later I worked there and I was at his mercy somewhat because I couldn’t even go home until then. He was going to give me a ride home, The woman told CNBC.
A police officer in St. George’s told CNBC that a complaint was lodged Friday regarding a minor, but gave no further details.
A spokesman for Milton said he “strongly denies the allegations.” The spokesman did not say whether Milton was in contact with Utah officials or provide any details of his account of the alleged incidents.
A spokesman for Milton told The Post in a statement that “Milton has never engaged in any inappropriate physical contact with anyone at any stage of his life.”
According to CNBC, both of Milton’s defendants are being represented by Craig Johnson, a former Utah prosecutor. He did not return the call to a post made on a phone number listed under his name outside normal business hours on Tuesday morning.
The latest episode marks Milton’s Swift Downward Spiral in allegations of sexual misconduct. He left Nikola’s board after the short-sold investment firm Hindenburg Research published a report accusing Nicola of making false statements and calling him a “complex fraud.”
A spokesman for Nicola did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations of assault against Milton.
Nicola shares are up early Tuesday morning by 7:46 p.m. Trading in the premarket at 18.60 was down about percent.6 percent
.
