Nikola is being investigated by the SEC over fraud allegations

Nikola faces an SEC investigation.
Nikola

Remember all the hubbub last week surrounding EV manufacturer Nikola and the report published by Hindenburg Research that called it an "intricate fraud"?

According to a report published Monday by Bloomberg , the US Securities and Exchange Commission is now looking into Nikola's business practices. The company had a stratospheric recent valuation despite not yet having produced a vehicle.

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Nikola and its loud-on-Twitter-founder Trevor Milton have been pushing back against Hindenburg's accusations, and even saw its stock price go up at the end of last week, though those numbers are down again -- by nearly 12% this time -- as of close on Monday.

Nikola has encouraged the SEC to get involved since Hindenburg published its accusations, and it's entirely possible that this preliminary investigation won't yield any charges, and it's hard to say how extensive it will be since it's not a public investigation.

When asked for comment, Nikola responded with an official statement:

On September 11, Nikola's legal counsel proactively contacted and briefed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding Nikola's concerns pertaining to the Hindenburg report. Nikola welcomes the SEC's involvement in this matter.

If Nikola did end up being charged with misdeeds, though, we'd all have to prepare for the levels of irony that would be sure to come if a hydrogen vehicle company gets wrecked by a company called Hindenburg.