Salil Parulekar, a previous employee of Tesla, has been charged with an embezzlement scheme which involves his former employer, Tesla. US Attorney Alex G. Tse and FBI Special Agent in Charge, John F. Bennett announced the case charges today. According to the charges, Parulekar managed an embezzlement scheme at Tesla through the Global Supply Management. Parulekar’s job required him to maintain the relationships with various suppliers of the company. He used his position to start a strategy where he diverted the money owed to one Tesla supplier and have it paid by another.
Parulekar embezzled a total of $9.3 million. The indictment explained how he managed to pay the supplier Schwabische Huttenwerke Automotive GmbH (SHW) even though they had their relationship with Tesla terminated. Parulekar redirected the payments from another supplier, named Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co., Ltd by impersonating a HOTA employee and convincing the Tesla payroll to change the bank information for both HOTA and SHW.
To continue with the complicated scheme, Parulekar was required to create various false documents including sales receipts, wire transfers, order forms and much more. Parulekar is charged with nine wire frauds, a violation of 18 USC, and one identity theft violation case. If he is found guilty, he will be serving imprisonment of twenty years and a $250,000 fine. The theft charge can put him to a sentence of two years and a fine of $250,000. Tesla is still required to comment on the allegations. Musk also has a reputation for a difficult boss.
The Tesla factories have been bombarded with accusations from workers that Tesla and Musk have forced the workers for overtime in unsafe conditions. In another example, Tesla threatened an employee to sue him for theft and sabotage. The company also filed a suit against a process technician Martin Tripp. He was accused of hacking and sharing the confidential data of the company and misleading the media. The $1 million lawsuits were obtained by CNBC and stated that “unlawfully hacked the company’s confidential and trade secret information” and “transferred that information to third parties and also made false claims to the media about the information he stole.”
The suit also stated that the company has now started discovering the extent of Tripp’s illegal activities and more details will be revealed later on. Musk often said that for Tesla to achieve their ambitions, he and his employees must work hard than a regular average person.
