The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into Tesla Inc. that touches at least in part on the company’s solar-cell activity.
The SEC acknowledged the probe in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by a former Tesla employee who previously filed a complaint with the SEC, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The person alleged in the complaint to the regulator back in 2019 that Tesla and SolarCity, the solar-cell business it acquired, failed to properly notify shareholders and the public of fire risks associated with its equipment, according to one of the documents.