Based upon published reports, GreenTech Automotive, the company the Democratic Party of Virginia’s gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe served as chairman from 2010 to 2012, received at least $37.5 million in cash investments before McAuliffe resigned as chairman in December 2012.
The controversy surrounding McAuliffe’s tenure as chairman of GreenTech Automotive plays a central role in the documentary film Fast Terry, released by Citizens United in July. Questions surrounding the use of proceeds of the $37.5 million invested in GreenTech Automotive highlight the film’s narrative that McAuliffe is not the “job creator” he claims to be.
As of August 2013, the only visible assets associated with the privately held company are the manufacturing equipment located in a leased Horn Lake, Mississippi production facility and a 100 acre field in Tunica County, Mississippi the company says it has invested $6.6 million in to make it ready for the construction of a manufacturing facility where electric vehicles will be built. To date, that construction has not yet begun.
In a 2009 Private Placement Memorandum, the company said that invested funds “will permit GreenTech Automotive to purchased its optioned property [in Tunica County, Mississippi] and then build and operate an automotive plant that produces between 200,000 and one million automobiles each year.”
Company officials will not reveal details of the company’s capital structure, but Breitbart News has been able to put together this summary of investments in GreenTech Automotive from published reports and publicly available records, which totals $37.5 million:
$7.5 million from Chinese national EB-5 investors before the Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) California regional center director halted the issuance of I-526 petitions to GreenTech EB-5 investors in July 2010.
$5 million in loans from the state of Mississippi. $3 million was loaned directly to GreenTech Automotive, and $2 million was loaned to Tunica County to acquire the 100 acre field from a local businessman. That 100 acres was subsequently transferred to GreenTech by the Tunica County Economic Development Foundation. Breitbart News confirmed with the Mississippi Development Authority on July 22 that these loans have been completely disbursed.
$25 million in EB-5 investments made by 50 Chinese nationals made subsequent to a September 1, 2011 decision in which USCIS director and current Obama administration nominee to become the next Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas overruled career DHS officials and removed the halt on I-526 petitions placed in July 2010.
On Saturday, the New York Times reported that “[i]n 2011, Mr. Mayorkas overruled two lower officers in his department, Citizenship and Immigration Services, which allowed GreenTech to recruit more Chinese investors.” This “reversal of his subordinates in favor of GreenTech was issued on Sept. 1, 2011, records show. It cleared the way for more than 50 green cards worth $25 million in Chinese investments.”
It is unclear how much of this additional $25 million has been disbursed to the company. Some or all of it may remain in escrow.
The fair market value of the 100 acres the company owns was estimated at $1.8 million by a reliable real estate broker prior to the county’s acquisition of the property. Documents filed with the IRS in 2011 by the Tunica County Economic Foundation confirm that value at the time it transferred ownership of the land to GreenTech Automotive. [See page 13 at link] Let’s give the company the benefit of the doubt and accept the claim that it’s spent $6.6 million on the site. Add to that a generous estimate of $2.4 million in manufacturing equipment located in the rented Horn Lake, Mississippi production facility, and that brings the company’s total assets to $9 million.
Where did the other $28.5 million go?
Breitbart News has posed that question to the McAuliffe campaign and officials at GreenTech Automotive. A spokesperson for GreenTech Automotive emailed this statement to Breitbart News on Saturday: “We are a private company and, like other private companies, we do not share our financial data.” As of the time of this story’s publication, we had not received an answer from the McAuliffe campaign.