Mississippi auditor requests $6.4M repayment from McAuliffe’s former electrical car company

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Terry McAuliffe, then-chairman of GreenTech Automotive, and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour took a spin in GreenTech’s fresh electrified car in July two thousand twelve at the company’s plant in Horn Lake, Miss.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Mississippi’s state auditor has demanded that a troubled electrical car company founded by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe repay almost $6.Four million in public funds after the company failed to produce on its promises to create jobs.

State Auditor Stacey Pickering announced the formal request to GreenTech Automotive on Wednesday, signaling a fresh round of problems for the venture McAuliffe left in two thousand twelve during his 2nd run for governor.

McAuliffe’s office has said the governor has had no involvement with the company since stepping down as its chairman and divesting his financial stake. But the escalating standoff in Mississippi raises the likelihood that the business deal McAuliffe brokered could be headed toward a bitter end in court. Ending his four-year term as governor with a higher national profile and record as an exuberant pitchman for Virginia, GreenTech’s unraveling could dog McAuliffe amid speculation about a two thousand twenty presidential bid.

In the letter to GreenTech CEO Charles Wang, Pickering asked that the utter sum be repaid within thirty days, and warned that failure to pay could result in the state filing a civil lawsuit against the company. The total consists of $Five million in public loans GreenTech received, plus interest and recovery costs.

In an interview, Pickering said the resistance his office encountered from GreenTech, including the company escorting auditors off its property, “raised enough crimson flags” that the audit could eventually lead to a criminal investigation.

“We’ve never had a company force our palm at this level,” Pickering said, adding that his office has had to obtain subpoenas and court orders to get GreenTech to serve with the audit.

In January, Mississippi officials told The Associated Press that they had been told GreenTech was “shutting down” its Tunica County plant, and Pickering said there is “no activity” at the site.

Pickering didn’t rule out the possibility that the potential litigation could involve McAuliffe.

“When it comes to these recoveries, naturally the corporation is the very first entity, then we will take a look at what other legal avenues are available when it comes to the officers of the corporation,” Pickering said. “If it results from the time he was involved in the corporation, those will be issues that we’ll be addressing at that time.”

McAuliffe’s office did not react to requests for comment.

Pickering, an elected Republican in his third term as Mississippi’s auditor, said his office will release a written report on the GreenTech deal next week.

McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, founded GreenTech after his failed two thousand nine bid for governor by buying a Chinese company and moving it to the U.S., burnishing his credentials as an entrepreneurial businessman ahead of his successful two thousand thirteen run for governor. In the summer of 2012, the company hosted a ribbon-cutting party in Mississippi featuring McAuliffe, former President Bill Clinton and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.

The venture quickly became a political liability, drawing scrutiny from federal investigators for its reliance on a controversial immigrant investor program that prizes wealthy foreigners with visas for pumping capital into American business projects. Republican critics attacked McAuliffe for locating the company in Mississippi instead of Virginia even after it became clear the company was lagging behind its goals of investing $60 million and producing three hundred fifty jobs at its Mississippi facility.

GreenTech was already fighting to meet loan repayment dates. Late last year, the company told the Mississippi Development Authority it was pursuing fresh financing that had been delayed because it required “certain approvals of security regulators in China.”

Peter Huddleston, GreenTech’s chief financial officer, did not instantaneously react to a request for comment. A message left at the company’s main telephone number was not returned.

The most latest news release posted on GreenTech’s website dates to last September, when the company announced it was moving to a fresh corporate headquarters in Northern Virginia.

Asked if the company could coax the state to grant an extension period for repayment, Pickering sounded doubtful.

“We’re past that point,” Pickering said. “They’re going to have to showcase real activity to make the taxpayers entire in Mississippi. They so far have not shown that.”

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