Shareholders Sue Solar Firm Backed by Billions in U.S. Funds

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Free Beacon:

A renewable energy company that has received billions in U.S. taxpayer support despite federal investigations and former employees’ allegations of illegal business practices is in dire financial straits as shareholders allege securities fraud and investors drive down its stock price.

 

The Spanish firm Abengoa is facing a federal lawsuit from shareholders who say that the company misled investors about its financial plans. It has faced numerous lawsuits in the past two years from contractors who say they were stiffed out of millions of dollars in payments.

 

Three former Abengoa employees have described a pervasive culture of illegality at the company in interviews with the Washington Free Beacon. All three say that executives hired Spanish nationals for jobs required to go to American workers by the terms of its multi-billion-dollar federal loan guarantees.

 

The shareholders behind this month’s lawsuit, filed last week, claim that the company violated federal securities laws when its CEO, Santaigo Seage, told investors on July 31, “the company has no plan to … tap the capital markets in any manner.”

 

Three days later, Abengoa announced plans to sell $600 million in stock.