Washington-based Perseus says its affiliation with James A. Johnson, a major fundraiser for Obama’s campaign, played no role in persuading the Energy Department to award the loan to Vehicle Production Group.
An investment firm whose vice chairman was an adviser and fundraiser for President Obama saw one of its portfolio companies, Vehicle Production Group, win approval in 2011 for $50 million in loans from the administration’s clean-energy loan program.
This week Vehicle Production Group went bust.
USA Today reported:
Vehicle Production Group closed its office, but owes $50 million to the Energy Department
A Michigan maker of vans for the disabled that received a $50-million Energy Department loan has quietly ceased operation and laid off its staff.
Vehicle Production Group, or VPG, stopped operations after finances dipped below the minimum threshold required by the government as a condition of the loan, says its former CEO, John Walsh. Though about 100 staff were laid off and its offices shuttered, it has not filed for bankruptcy reorganization.
VPG, of Allen Park, Mich., received its Energy Department loan under the same clean-energy programs under fire by House Republicans, especially the $527 million to troubled plug-in hybrid car maker Fisker Automotive and $535 million to solar startup Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy reorganization. VPG was deemed eligible for the loan because some of its vans were expected to be fitted with engines fueled by clean compressed natural-gas.
80% of Obama’s green energy loans went to donors – at least 19 companies went bust.
This is criminal.
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