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Tesla Whistleblower Creates Crowdfunding to Ask for Help, Received $52,260 So Far

In 2018, Karl Hansen made the headlines after filing a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Tesla. The former internal investigator said that Tesla was hiding around $37 million in losses due to raw material theft, particularly copper. Hansen also accused the EV maker of spying on its employees and failing to tell the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) that an employee could be involved with drug dealing. Hansen now opened a crowdfunding campaign to help him fight Tesla in court.
Karl Hansen investigated crimes at the Gigafactory in Nevada and Tesla fired him after that 8 photos
Photo: Tesla/Karl Hansen/edited by autoevolution
Tesla's GigafactoryTesla's GigafactoryTesla's GigafactoryTesla Giga NevadaTesla Giga NevadaTesla Giga NevadaKarl Hansen investigated crimes at the Gigafactory in Nevada and Tesla fired him after that
On his GoFundMe page, Hansen talks about his career in the military. He used to be a Special Agent assigned to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, Protective Services Battalion.” In other words, he knows a thing or two about solving crimes after he “spent a career engaged in this type of work.” That is why Tesla hired him in 2018.

According to Hansen, he “was tasked to conduct several very high-profile and specific internal investigations pertaining to potentially damaging alleged criminal activity at the Gigafactory.” Weirdly for the investigator, after he presented his findings, he started to witness “ongoing efforts to minimize and marginalize” his efforts.

That ultimately led to Tesla firing him. Hansen shares that he believes it was a consequence of doing his work thoroughly and “recommending specific actions that needed to be undertaken to protect the company.” This is not the first report of retaliation that we have heard about.

Cristina Balan was also trying to help Tesla when she sent an email message to Elon Musk to warn him about some issues she thought he didn’t know about. A while later, she was forced to resign. Tesla later accused her of kickback and embezzlement, which led her to sue the company for defamation. Balan is now fighting the EV maker as a pro se: she said she lost faith in lawyers.

Hansen didn’t: the legal expenses are the main reason he asked for help. Not because his attorneys – the same ones that assisted Martin Tripp – are expensive but rather because he “wasn’t prepared for the lengths Tesla will go to in order to silence anyone attempting to stand up and expose their practices.”

According to the whistleblower, “Tesla’s tactics are legally questionable, consistent, covert, overt, and they employ them decisively and long-term with the specific intent of siphoning the energy, resources, motivation, and desire of victims who attempt to take a stand based on justice and personal integrity.” So far, Hansen has received $52,260 from the $125,000 goal. You can check his GoFundMe page here.
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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
Gustavo Henrique Ruffo profile photo

Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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