The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking to force billionaire Elon Musk to testify in its probe of his purchase of the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a new litigation release, the regulatory agency says that it has filed an application seeking an order that directs the business magnate to comply with a subpoena to testify – which he has so far ignored.
According to the SEC, Musk may have violated securities laws by purchasing Twitter in October 2022 for a staggering $44 billion.
“If a person or entity refuses to comply with a subpoena issued by SEC enforcement staff pursuant to a formal order of investigation, the Commission may file a subpoena enforcement action in federal district court seeking an order compelling compliance.
According to the SEC staff’s filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the testimony subpoena to Musk relates to an ongoing investigation by the SEC regarding, among other things, potential violations of various provisions of the federal securities laws in connection with (a) Musk’s 2022 purchases of Twitter, Inc. stock, and (b) Musk’s 2022 statements and SEC filings relating to Twitter.
According to the filing, the SEC seeks Musk’s testimony to obtain information not already in the SEC’s possession that is relevant to its legitimate and lawful investigation.”
The SEC says that despite Musk agreeing to testify in court and being served an investigative subpoena to do so in September, he failed to appear and made several “spurious” objections.
Alex Spiro, Musk’s attorney, tells Reuters that Musk has already testified and does not need to do so again.
“The SEC has already taken Mr. Musk’s testimony multiple times in this misguided investigation – enough is enough.”
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