

Tesla Inc. is once again under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s microscope.
The automaker said in a regulatory filing today that the agency is investigating projections that it had made about the production of its Model 3 sedan.
The development comes only weeks after Tesla and its high-profile Chief Executive Elon Musk (pictured) settled fraud charges brought by the SEC as part of a separate case. Agency officials launched the suit in September after Musk tweeted claims that he had secured funding to take the company private.
According to today’s filing, the SEC has subpoenaed Tesla for information related to the Model 3’s production. The Wall Street Journal reported last month the FBI is looking into the matter as well on behalf of the Department of Justice.
The Journal’s sources said that the DOJ is seeking to determine if the automaker misstated the pace of Model 3 production whether or not it misled investors. Musk indicated in June 2017 that Tesla is on track to make 20,000 vehicles a month by December of that year, but the company was forced to push back the deadline multiple times. Tesla finally marked its first week with 5,000 Model 3 sedans produced this July.
“In particular, the SEC has issued subpoenas to Tesla in connection with (a) Mr. Musk’s prior statement that he was considering taking Tesla private and (b) certain projections that we made for Model 3 production rates during 2017 and other public statements relating to Model 3 production,” the company’s filing detailed. “The DOJ has also asked us to voluntarily provide it with information about each of these matters and is investigating.”
The document didn’t go into detail about the extent of the DOJ’s involvement. According to the October report in the Journal, the FBI started the probe in 2017 and has contacted several former Tesla employees for testimony, even subpoenaing some. The inquiry is said to be handled as a criminal investigation.
Musk strongly dismissed the report in an interview with technology journalist Kara Swisher published this morning. “The amount of untruthful stuff that is written is unbelievable,” he said. “Take that Wall Street Journal front-page article about, like, ‘The FBI is closing in.’ That is utterly false. That’s absurd.”
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