WSJ: SEC Launches Investigation Into Workhorse

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into Workhorse Group Inc., an electric-vehicle manufacturer based near Cincinnati that was an early equity investor in Lordstown Motors Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, the regulator said in a letter denying a public-records request that the company was under investigation by its enforcement division.

Earlier this year, Workhorse lost a bid for a multi-billion dollar contract with the United States Postal Service. In June, the EV company sued the USPS over the decision to award the contract to Oshkosh Defense.

Workhorse once owned more than a 9% stake in Lordstown Motors Corp., another electric-vehicle manufacturer that is preparing a limited launch of its Endurance pickup by the end of this month.

Last month, Workhorse announced it had jettisoned 11.9 million shares, or 77%, of stock the company owned in Lordstown Motors.

Lordstown Motors is also the subject of an investigation by the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice related to allegations that executives misled investors by exaggerating preorders of the all-electric Endurance. The agencies are also investigating the company’s merger with blank check company DiamondPeak Holdings Corp. last year. 

Lordstown Motors’ CEO Steve Burns resigned in June. Burns was also the former CEO of Workhorse Group.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.