The greatest scams in history (with the possible exception of crypto) have nothing on green energy.

There is nothing a green energy company can do or be accused of that will prevent governments from throwing money at it.

Flashback from 2021.

Electric truck maker Nikola said Thursday it was approved for a $2 million grant from the Energy Department — news that comes despite the fact that the company’s founder and largest shareholder faces federal criminal charges for deceiving shareholders.

Nikola has yet to produce any trucks ready for sale. It has promised to build 25 and 50 trucks by the end of the year, but it is not certain it will have all the parts needed to complete the trucks as planned.

This is a company that had been founded in 2014 and at one point had a higher valuation than Ford which had yet to figure out how to get the parts to build… 25 trucks.

Or get a truck to actually drive down a highway.

At the trial of founder Trevor Milton, prosecutors say a company video of a prototype truck appearing to be driven down a desert highway was actually a video of a nonfunctioning Nikola that had been rolled down a hill.

That didn’t stop the Biden admin from throwing millions at it even as…

….July 29, Milton was charged with securities and wire fraud, as US prosecutors accused him of false and misleading statements about “nearly all aspects of the business.”

Since his indictment, Milton has sold 14.5 million shares, raising $148.2 million. But he still owns more than 63 million shares of the company, or about 16% of shares outstanding, making him its largest shareholder. Milton disclosed about half of those sales in a new filing late Thursday.

The Department of Energy defended its grant process Thursday, saying that it “makes funding awards based on a rigorous, merit-based review process that includes multiple technology experts reviewing applications.”

How did this story end? The usual way green clean stories end. In fraud and tears.

In 2020, Nikola was valued at around $30 billion, exceeding the market capitalization of Ford Motor Co.

Nikola filed for protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and said Wednesday that it has also filed a motion seeking approval to pursue an auction and sale of the business.

The company has about $47 million in cash on hand.

Here’s a good rule of thumb. If it’s green, it’s not clean.