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Federal agents raid bankrupt Fremont solar company Solyndra
A Solyndra solar rooftoop installation. The company has now gone bankrupt and is laying off over 1,000 workers.
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Federal agents raid bankrupt Fremont solar company Solyndra
Federal agents Thursday searched the northern California headquarters of failing solar company Solyndra that received a half-billion dollar loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.
Fremont-based Solyndra announced last week it would lay off 1,100 workers and file for bankruptcy. That’s a dramatic fall for a solar firm that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama once touted as a symbol of a growing green economy.
Solyndra made photovoltaic panels and mounts for the commercial market. An FBI spokesman confirmed its agents served warrants for the nearly-shuttered company and searched several buildings.
The warrants stem from a joint investigation of the FBI and the Department of Energy’s inspector general. The inspector general has broad authority to look into contract fraud, theft, bribery, whistleblower claims and abuse of funds provided under Recovery Act programs.
L.A. Congressman Henry Waxman and other House leaders have invited Solyndra’s chief executive to testify at a hearing next week. They note that the company was projecting to double revenues this year.
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