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As we reported yesterday, the Department of Justice is looking into Tesla for wrongdoing as part of a "criminal probe". The investigation was reportedly spurred by Elon Musk's early August tweet in which he stated that he had "funding secured" for a bid to take Tesla private at $420 per share. But now it’s being reported that the Department of Justice inquiry into the company may wind up heading in other directions, possibly opening up a "Pandora's box", if they are given enough new strings to pull on as a result of their initial look into the company.As Bloomberg notes, DOJ investigations in their early stages often end up in different places than they start. Sometimes they can wind up uncovering additional wrongdoing than they set out after, other times they can lead to easier outcomes, like fines and settlements. According to Paul Pelletier, a former Justice Department prosecutor, the roadmap for this investigation of Tesla remains to be seen.He told Bloomberg: "Criminal investigations are never good if you’re a public company because they open up a Pandora’s box and prosecutors will follow threads wherever they lead." According to former Federal prosecutors, they will likely be looking for evidence in internal documents and emails. Pelletier also stated that the lack of a subpoena doesn't necessarily mean that the investigation is limited. Rather, he suggested that the DOJ could "piggyback" onto the SEC's subpoenas. The Securities and Exchange Commission was reportedly already investigating Tesla for whether or not its Model 3 production forecasts were misleading. Another area that the DOJ/SEC may wind up looking at is why the company's new chief accounting officer wound up picking up and resigning – leaving a potential $10 million dollar equity award behind – after less than a month on the job.
