- A Tesla executive is facing scrutiny after requesting the purchase of a special kind of glass, Bloomberg reported.
- The materials were flagged to an internal audit team that's investigating whether they could be for Elon Musk's personal use, according to the report.
- The executive, Omead Afshar, has led Tesla's Texas gigafactory, former employees told Insider.
Omead Afshar, the executive in charge of Tesla's Texas factory, is being investigated by the company over the planned purchase of construction materials that were flagged as items that may have been obtained for Elon Musk's personal use, Bloomberg first reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The publication reported that several Tesla employees have already been terminated as a result of the investigation, which included a special kind of glass that has been difficult to secure due to the supply-chain crisis. Afshar is also likely to leave the company as a result of the internal investigation, several sources familiar with the situation told Bloomberg.
The Tesla executive requested the purchase order and informed workers it was for a special project, multiple sources told Bloomberg.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Insider reached out to Afshar through LinkedIn but did not immediately receive a response.
It can be illegal to use company funds for personal expenses — especially when dealing with a publicly traded company. If a public company were found to have used company funds for an executive's personal use it could lead to an IRS investigation, as well as lawsuits from shareholders.
Afshar has worked at Tesla for nearly five years in the office of the CEO, according to his LinkedIn page. The executive's job description on LinkedIn is simply an emoji in a cowboy hat. Two former employees told Insider that Afshar led Tesla's Texas gigafactory and often acted as Musk's "direct report."
"You didn't do anything without getting approval from him," Julian Cantu, a former Workplace Operations Lead at Tesla told Insider.
On Wednesday, Afshar tweeted that he was "Super proud of the Fremont production team" after the company hit the 2 million mile stone for manufactured vehicles.
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