Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud, according to court documents filed Thursday. Sources close to the company told CNBC the company was also expecting to be sued, though Tesla was not named as a defendant in the complaint.
Shares of the automaker fell more than 13 percent in extended trading Thursday. The stock is roughly 30 percent below its 52-week high of $387.46.
The SEC complaint alleges that Musk issued "false and misleading" statements and failed to properly notify regulators of material company events. The SEC held a press conference Thursday evening regarding the complaint.
Among other remedies, the SEC is seeking to bar Musk from serving as an officer or director of a publicly traded company if found guilty.
"A chairman and CEO of a public company has important responsibilities to shareholders," Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's division of enforcement, said during the press conference. "Those responsibilities include the need to be scrupulous and careful about the truth and accuracy of statements made to the investing public, whether those statements are made in traditional forms such as a press release or an earnings call or through less formal methods such as Twitter or other social media."
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