Tesla is being investigated over funds “used to build a secret home in Austin for Elon Musk”. Tesla

US prosecutors are investigating Tesla over the alleged use of company funds in a secret project described internally as a home Elon MuskCEO of the electric car maker.

The information the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York requested from Tesla includes personal benefits paid to Musk, the amount spent on the project and its purpose. According to The Wall Street Journal.

The report added, quoting sources familiar with the matter, that Securities and Exchange CommissionThe US financial regulator also opened a civil investigation into the project, which was known internally as “Project 42”.

According to a Wall Street Journal report in July, plans for “Project 42” resemble an Apple store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York, and take the shape of a twisted hexagon on waterfront land with the Tesla factory in Austin behind it. The Wall Street Journal said the proposed building in Texas The headquarters has been described as Musk’s home.

The Wall Street Journal reported that other photos of the project showed a large glass box that appeared to contain a residential component. He Said Tesla Lawyers and board members considered the project after employees raised concerns about how the multimillion-dollar glass order would be used.

The Wall Street Journal said the status of the project and the glass order is unknown, adding that investigations are in their early stages and may not lead to charges.

Tesla, Musk and the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan have been contacted for comment. The Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment.

In March, The Wall Street Journal also reported that Musk was planning to build a car “A kind of utopia in Texas.” Outside Austin, near the facilities of his tunneling company and rocket company SpaceX, where his employees can live and work.

The Wall Street Journal also reported on Wednesday that federal prosecutors are looking into Tesla’s claims about the car’s performance after a report that the company exaggerated the potential driving distance of its cars.

Reuters reported in July that Tesla cars often failed to meet the range estimates reported and the expectations reported by the car’s equipment, citing experts who tested or studied them. The company wrote algorithms about a decade ago to generate “pink” estimates of driving range within the dashboard, Reuters quoted a source, and set up a “transformation team” to cancel range-related service appointments.

The automaker deployed the team because its service centers were full of appointments from owners who expected better performance based on the company’s stated estimates and expectations shown by range meters on the cars themselves, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter.