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Surprise! Treasury IG probing multi-million-dollar fraud in green-energy grants, tax credits
Hot Air ^ | 12:41 pm on December 14, 2012 | Ed Morrissey

Posted on 12/14/2012 11:25:40 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach

And the probe doesn’t involve some bit players in an obscure program, either.  The 1603 Program was one of the centerpieces of Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus, designed to subsidize a transition from hydrocarbon-based energy to renewables in the residential market, and federal government sunk $13 billion into the effort.  Now the Inspector General of Treasury has opened a probe of the three largest providers of solar panel installations, who gained the most from the 1603 Program, and who may have fraudulently calculated their bills in order to claim more taxpayer cash:

Three of the country’s most prolific installers of residential solar panels are under federal investigation to determine if they inflated the cost of their work to increase the payments they would receive from the government, according to government and industry officials familiar with the probe.

SolarCitySunRun and Sungevity have received subpoenas from the Treasury Department’s office of inspector general for financial records to justify more than $500 million in federal grants and tax credits the firms tapped for performing work. The probe seeks to determine whether the companies accurately reported the market value of their costs when applying for federal reimbursement, which was calculated at one-third of the costs.

The solar companies received money through the Treasury’s $13 billion program, known as the 1603 program, which used funds from President Obama’s stimulus initiative to offer cash grants to clean-energy developers. The goal was to spur the spread of wind farms, solar panels and other clean power sources nationwide.

SolarCity, SunRun and Sungevity have been by far the largest recipients among companies installing solar panels on homes. Working heavily in the sunny states of California and Arizona, the three firms collected hundreds of millions of dollars in federal cash grants to pick up a share of their costs on thousands of home installations during the past three years.

You know who’s missing from this story?  Sheriff Joe Biden.  Recall that when critics of the $800 billion porkfest predicted widespread fraud, Obama put Biden in charge of making sure that the money didn’t go to scams, which Biden admitted a few months later was an unachievable goal.  Obama himself warned that his wrath would be mighty indeed if local-government recipients of Porkulus cash got sticky fingers.

Perhaps they didn’t have enough room at the Ritz Carlton for Biden to invite scrutiny of the three largest players in the 1603 Program.  It’s tough to find parking there, after all.

And here’s another shocker:

SolarCity and SunRun have been generous political supporters of Obama. At SolarCity, for example, officials in the company and its two key venture capital firm backers, along with their relatives, donated an estimated $579,000 to Obama in 2008 and 2012, according to campaign reports.

Lucky for Obama that the announcement of the IG probe happened after the election, then.  What a coincidence!


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 1603program; bide; biden; bundlers; donors; globalwarminghoax; greenenergy; investigation; joebiden; obama; obamabundlers; obamadonors; pork; porkulus; scam; solar; solarcity; solarpanels; spending; stimulus; sungevity; sunrun; treasurydepartment; waste; wind; windfarms
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
not holding my breath on that one...
21 posted on 12/14/2012 3:32:02 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Is Solar City the solar farm in So Nevada that Dirty Harry Reid’s son-Rory—was the legal USA rep for ?


22 posted on 12/14/2012 5:22:25 PM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: Marine_Uncle
Dang! And I thought I was lucky today when I found a quarter today in the Aldi parking lot. OK, I didn't find a quarter, but I did find a cart and returned it for the quarter.
23 posted on 12/14/2012 6:02:48 PM PST by goodtomato (I'm really, really blessed!)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Institutionalized corruption.


24 posted on 12/14/2012 7:03:47 PM PST by Hoodat ("As for God, His way is perfect" - Psalm 18:30)
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To: goodtomato

I always leave my quarter at Aldi’s.


25 posted on 12/14/2012 7:06:45 PM PST by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: goodtomato

Sadly how ever as your painfully aware, the $13 billion is lost forever from the Federal coffers provided by the tax payers.


26 posted on 12/14/2012 9:36:43 PM PST by Marine_Uncle (I'm going John Galt.... But. Honor must be earned.)
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To: bgill

Let me look for my energy dept loans link, standby...


27 posted on 12/14/2012 11:29:15 PM PST by XHogPilot
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To: bgill; Ernest_at_the_Beach

Heres a list of 36 companies, mostly bankrupt, that Obama’s Energy Dept gave “loans” to: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2947080/posts


28 posted on 12/15/2012 3:58:09 AM PST by XHogPilot
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To: XHogPilot

Thanks. The one I was looking for is this one -

http://www.turbineairsystems.com/careers/tas-energy-about-houston.html


29 posted on 12/15/2012 6:22:34 AM PST by bgill (We've passed the point of no return. Welcome to Al Amerika.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Greed never surprises me.
Fortunately, I am one of those that would feel guilty and afraid of being discovered to become greedy.
Same thing goes for fraud.............


30 posted on 12/16/2012 6:29:47 PM PST by jongaltsr
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

BTTT!


31 posted on 12/18/2012 12:45:43 AM PST by neverdem ( Xin loi min oi)
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