(New York) US federal justice and the stock market police, the SEC, are investigating the possible use of funds from the automaker Tesla to finance a personal project of its boss Elon Musk, reports the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Wednesday. .
According to the daily, referring to people familiar with the matter, the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office requested “information on personal benefits paid to Musk, on the amount spent by Tesla on this project […] and on its future use”.
This “Project 42” – as it is dubbed internally after the newspaper – concerns “the construction of a spacious glass structure in the Austin, Texas area”, where Tesla’s headquarters are located.
He is also the subject of a civil investigation by the SEC, the WSJ added, noting that both investigations were at a “preliminary stage and may not result in formal charges of wrongdoing.”
The newspaper wrote in July that Tesla’s board was investigating internally whether company resources had been misused for the project, and whether the billionaire was involved.
“Tesla lawyers and board members looked into the project after employees raised concerns about how the company planned to use walls from a special glass it had ordered for millions of dollars,” underlines the WSJ, which does not know where this project is and if these walls have been delivered.
