Report: Tesla faces “deepening criminal investigation” into Model 3 production

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Tesla is reportedly undergoing a “deepening criminal investigation” by the FBI into whether the company misled investors with respect to production of Model 3 vehicles, according to The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper cited “people familiar with the matter,” who said that federal prosecutors based in San Francisco have “intensified” their work in recent weeks. Neither the FBI nor the United States Attorney’s Office in San Francisco immediately responded to Ars’ request for comment.

Kamran Mumtaz, a Tesla spokesman, sent Ars a statement, saying that earlier this year the company received a voluntary request for documents, which it complied with. “We have not received a formal subpoena, a request for testimony, or any other formal process, and there have been no additional document requests about this from the Department of Justice for months,” the statement said. “Tesla’s philosophy has always been set to truthful targets—not sandbagged targets that we would definitely exceed and not unrealistic targets that we would never meet.”

Mumtaz did not immediately answer Ars’ question as to whether any Tesla official had been interviewed by federal investigators.