FBI Executes Search Warrants At Solyndra Headquarters

The FBI executed search warrants today at the headquarters of the now defunct, and bankrupt, solar energy firm Solyndra, recipient of a half a billion dollar federally guaranteed loan from the Energy Department:

 

F.B.I. agents on Thursday served search warrants on Solyndra, the large manufacturer of solar arrays that announced last week that it was filing for bankruptcy protection. The search was part of an investigation into $527 million worth of loans the company received from the Treasury Department that were guaranteed by the Department of Energy under a highly touted federal stimulus program.

“The F.B.I. is here. We don’t know the specifics,” said David Miller, a Solyndra spokesman. “It is in connection with the loan guarantee, but other than that we don’t know.”

The warrants are part of a joint investigation between the F.B.I. and the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General, according to Alicia Sensibaugh, a spokeswoman for the F.B.I., who declined to elaborate further.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has also scheduled a Sept. 14 hearing into the loans.

There’s no word on whether these search warrants are connected to a grand jury or an ongoing criminal investigation, but that would seem to be the most likely hypothesis. It would be very interesting to know what they were looking for, and what they found.

 

 

FILED UNDER: Crime, Law and the Courts, US Politics, , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. A voice from another precinct says:

    It would be interesting to know–and if they are ever charged with crimes, we will find out. If not, you and your pals can keep up the inuendo.

  2. Drew says:

    It always fascinates me as to what essays get a large number of comments, and which ones don’t.

    Doug, you and I don’t always see eye to eye, but your essay here should have been one of those 50-100 comment threads because of the fundamental importance of the topic: government subsidy and kingmaking, if not outright cronyism and fraud. (And as opposed to what Sarah Palin said today.)

    I’d love to get my hands on the corporate documentation. Reportedly, we have an owner, and significant campaign contributor, who contributed equity granted capital BUT WITH A PREFERENCE IN LIQUIDATION to the below market rate government backed loan. As perhaps the only commenter here who understands deal structuring, this isn’t just odd it is most assuredly malpractice and abrogation of fiduciary duty. And we haven’t even gotten to WARN Act issues related to the sudden dismissal of the employee base.

    This just stinks. Government at its worst. Yet? No comments. But thank you for trying, Doug.