The US Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) is suing Elon Musk over his refusal to testify in an investigation into Musk’s buy of Twitter inventory in 2022.
In line with the SEC’s complaint, Musk was scheduled to seem for testimony on September fifteenth after receiving a subpoena. Nonetheless, “two days earlier than his scheduled testimony, Musk abruptly notified the SEC workers that he wouldn’t seem” and apparently raised “a number of spurious objections, together with an objection to San Francisco as an applicable testimony location,” the SEC mentioned. The lawsuit was first reported by Bloomberg.
The SEC says it provided to conduct the testimony in Fort Price, Texas, which is nearer to the place Musk lives, in addition to on a number of dates in October and November. Regardless of that, “these good religion efforts have been met with Musk’s blanket refusal to seem for testimony.” The SEC is asking the courtroom to compel Musk to testify.
The subpoena pertains to “an ongoing nonpublic investigation” from the SEC about whether or not Musk violated securities legal guidelines together with his 2022 purchases of Twitter inventory and 2022 statements and filings concerning the corporate. In April of final 12 months, the SEC wrote a letter to Musk questioning his disclosures about the purchases.
Forward of his acquisition of Twitter final 12 months, Musk bought a considerable stake in Twitter, requiring him to file a disclosure with the SEC. The SEC beforehand mentioned that Musk “doesn’t seem” to have disclosed the purchases throughout the applicable timeframe.
Musk has a protracted historical past of tussling with the SEC. Earlier this 12 months, a federal appeals courtroom rejected his bid to toss an SEC settlement that forces him to have some Tesla-related tweets reviewed by a lawyer.