WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it has seized $21 million from troubled automaker Fisker Automotive Inc., just weeks after the company laid off three-fourths of its workers amid continuing financial and production problems.
Fisker had received $192 million in federal loans before a series of problems led U.S. officials to freeze the loan in 2011.
In a statement Monday, the Energy Department says it recovered money from the company's approximately $21 million reserve account, which was set up as part of the initial loan commitment in 2009.
The DOE awarded the Anaheim, Calif.-based company Fisker a $529 million loan as part of an Obama administration program to boost electric cars and other advanced vehicles. Fisker pledged its assets as collateral on that loan.
A DOE official called the financial seizure appropriate.
