Late Friday’s court filing revealed that shareholders are being sued. TeslaThe CEO Elon MuskOver alleged securities fraud, they claimed to have won a part of their critical class-action lawsuit.

Tesla shareholders sued them for money lost following Musk’s 2018 tweet that he considered taking private his electric car company at $420 per share, and claimed he has funding to make this happen.

Tesla stock trading was initially stopped. Shares then became highly volatile for several weeks following the tweets. Musk later said that he had been in discussions with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and felt confident that funding would come through at his proposed price. A deal never materialized.

In response to those tweets, the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated and convicted Musk of civil securities fraud. Tesla and Musk reached a new settlement in 2019, but Musk wants to end that agreement.

Musk and Tesla could pay billions to class members for damages from the shareholders’ lawsuit.

The shareholders’ attorneys said in the filing out Friday that Judge Edward M. Chen, who is presiding in this matter, had concluded that Musk acted with scienter — in other words, that he knowingly made false statements about having funding secured when he tweeted.

These details were revealed by Musk’s lawyers in response to a request for temporary restraining ordered against him. This was to keep him from making any further public remarks regarding this case as he did at the widely watched appearance at The Shareholders Meeting. TED 2022 conference on April 14.

This request for a temporary restraining orders refers to a previous ruling of Judge Chen, which is currently sealed because it refers evidence Musk and his team considered confidential. “We anticipate the order will be published soon,” Adam Apton of Levi & Korsinsky, lead counsel for the class of Tesla shareholders, told CNBC by email.

Musk described financial regulators from the SEC San Francisco Office as “bastards” at Thursday’s TED Conference.

Musk stated that the SEC was aware of funding secured, but pursued an active public investigation at the same time. Tesla was in a precarious financial situation. And I was told by the banks that if I did not agree to settle with the SEC that they would, the banks would cease providing working capital and Tesla would go bankrupt immediately. It’s almost like holding a gun to your child’s head. The SEC forced me to give in to their illegal demands.

Musk may not have felt that he was able to get working capital to Tesla. However, he is confident that he can raise the billions necessary to privatize the company.

Musk currently is the most wealthy person in the entire world. He is actively trying to get more. TwitterHis preferred social media platform is. take it private for around $43 billion.

Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, told CNBC, “Nothing will ever change the truth. Elon Musk had been considering privatizing Tesla. Elon Musk stated, “The lawyers of the plaintiffs are out for a buck. And others are trying stop the truth being brought to light to protect free speech.”

Bloomberg first reported new developments in the shareholder’s class action when Spiro made a similar statement.

A trial date has been set for May 31st, 2022 in San Francisco federal courts, although that may change.

Levi & Korsinsky’s Apton told CNBC, “We look forward to proving the rest of our case at trial and recovering damages on behalf of the class.”