FBI investigates whether Tesla misled investors with Model 3, according to the WSJ



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NEW YORK- The FBI is investigating whether automaker Tesla has misled its investors with false expectations about the production of Model 3 and other parts of its business, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday ( WSJ).

According to the New York newspaper, FBI agents contacted former employees of the company to question them and ask them to testify in a criminal case.

The survey is being conducted by the San Francisco prosecutor's office and has intensified after Tesla recently entered into an agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to avoid a fraud case .

Release of the company from its controversial founder, Elon Musk, whose posts on a possible exit of Tesla from the stock market triggered the action of the regulator.

Lee: Why

The SEC reported that a series of messages that Musk had posted on Twitter on August 7 regarding its intention to withdraw the company from the market an act which temporarily inflated the value of the shares.

In this new case, according to the Journal, the US authorities' investigation is focused on the information provided by Tesla on the production of the most affordable model 3 of the market.

The company introduced Model 3 in early 2016 and announced in 2017 an ambitious production plan with the goal of producing 5,000 vehicles a week for this year.

he had great difficulty in meeting these expectations and repeatedly failed to achieve the goals set, which was worth a lot of criticism of Musk.

According to the WSJ, authorities are investigating whether Tesla has announced He made these production projections knowing that it was impossible to meet them.

Lee: The moment of truth for Tesla Model 3 approaches

In response to this information, the company said Friday that it received a request for documents by a part of the Department of Justice on model 3 and who responded.

The company also defended the fact that it was "transparent" from the start on the difficulties that automobile production would cause and stated that the targets were delayed. more than expected for unforeseen problems.

This week, Tesla, which has never closed a year of benefits, announced it earned $ 311.5 million in the third quarter, compared to $ 619.3 million lost in the same period . of 2017.

Today, although they withdrew momentarily after reading the WSJ news, the company's shares quickly rebounded and ended the Wall Street session with an increase of more than 5%.

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