A failed carmaker and a related technology company accused President Barack Obama’s administration of playing favorites on clean-energy loans while improperly blocking them from receiving millions in aid.
XP Vehicles Inc. and Limnia Inc. sued the U.S. Energy Department in federal court in Washington, seeking damages for what they say were abuses of the $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program. XP Vehicles, which has dissolved, and Limnia are asking a judge for more than $225 million.
“Defendants used the ATVM loan program as nothing more than a veil to steer hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to government cronies,” Daniel Epstein, a lawyer for the companies, said in the complaint.
Damien Lavera, an Energy Department spokesman, didn’t immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is the latest challenge to clean-energy loan programs administered by the Energy Department, which has come under scrutiny over a $535 million loan guarantee to now-bankrupt solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC.
The case is XP Vehicles Inc. v. U.S. Department of Energy, 13-cv-00037, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
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