Elon Musk has been accused of fraud by the US government.
According to the BBC, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Tesla’s chief executive, which alleges securities fraud.
Musk – who earlier this year was forced to apologise after calling a British diver “pedo guy” on Twitter – had previously claimed that he had secured funding to take the publicly-traded electric carmaker private, but the US regulator states that that was “false and misleading”.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, reads: “In truth and in fact Musk had not even discussed much less confirmed key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source.”
In response, Musk called the action “unjustified” and said that he acted in the “best interests of truth, transparency and investors”.
“Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way,” he added.
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The lawsuit is seeking to bar Musk from acting as an officer or director of a publicly-traded company.
Musk was in the news earlier this year after Thai cave rescue diver Vernon Unsworth made comments about a Tesla submarine. The billionaire then aimed a reactionary and baseless tweet back at Unsworth.
In his apology submitted on social media, Musk wrote: “My words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader.
“Nonetheless, his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologise to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader. The fault is mine and mine alone.”
Unsworth is currently suing Musk for defamation over the tweet.
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