The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a probe into Ohio electric vehicle maker Workhorse Group Inc, an early investor in Lordstown Motors Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The securities regulator disclosed in a letter that its enforcement division had been investigating Workhorse, the report said, adding that the letter did not mention what the probe was about and did not offer any further details.
Workhorse and the SEC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
In February, the U.S. Postal Service said it would award a multibillion-dollar, 10-year contract, to Oshkosh Defense to manufacture a new generation of postal delivery vehicles. Workhorse Group filed a legal challenge in June to the USPS decision.
Lordstown in June announced the sudden departure of its founder and former top boss Steve Burns after an internal investigation into short-seller Hindenburg Research’s claims that the startup overstated the viability of its technology and misled investors about production plans.
Burns was also the former CEO of Workhorse.
Lordstown has also faced scrutiny from federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the SEC regarding its merger with a blank-check company and previously made statements about preorders for its vehicles.
