The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it is seeking a court order to compel testimony as part of its investigation into Elon Musk’s alleged takeover of Twitter, now known as X.
According to the Associated Press on the 5th (local time), the SEC stated in a complaint filed in San Francisco federal court that day that Musk did not appear for testimony on September 15 despite an investigation subpoena provided by the SEC. Musk did not object to the investigative subpoena when it was served, the SEC noted.
However, “two days before the scheduled deposition, Musk suddenly notified us through his SEC staff that he would not appear,” he said. “Musk initially justified his refusal to comply with the subpoena by raising several false objections, including objections to San Francisco being the appropriate location for the deposition.” attempted to do so,” the SEC said in its complaint. X is headquartered in San Francisco.
According to AP, the complaint filed by the SEC with the court on the 5th does not provide specific details about the investigation, but the agency (SEC) is responsible for protecting investors and has broad authority to conduct the investigation, and Musk refused to do so. They claim that there is no basis for doing so.
The SEC objected to Musk testifying in San Francisco because he does not live there, the complaint states, so the SEC would not allow Musk to testify in any of its 11 offices, including one in Fort Worth, Texas, which is closer to where he lives. He said he had proposed it. Later, on September 24, Musk’s lawyers responded that Musk would not appear to testify at any location, the SEC said.
The SEC said it had been conducting a fact-finding investigation targeting the period prior to Musk’s acquisition last year when Twitter was still a publicly traded company, and that the agency had not concluded that anyone had violated federal securities laws.
Musk’s lawyer said in an email statement on the 5th, “The SEC has already received Musk’s testimony several times in this flawed investigation. He protested against the lawsuit, saying, “Enough is enough.”
After months of legal battles with Twitter’s former management, Musk finalized a deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion and delist it in October 2022. However, Musk attempted to withdraw after signing the contract to acquire Twitter in April 2022, and the company sued him and forced him to proceed with the acquisition.
The SEC announced that it had approved an investigation into whether Musk’s purchase of Twitter stock and his comments since April of last year violated securities laws.
A lawsuit filed by Twitter shareholders in New York the same month alleged that the billionaire illegally delayed the public offering of his stake in the company in order to buy more shares at a cheaper price.
Source: Donga