Jacksonville, FL – Action News Jax has learned that the FBI is looking into the Westside company Jinko Solar.
Jinko Solar is a big company in the solar business that is based in China.
The company has a factory in Jacksonville where it makes solar panels. The city gave the business millions of dollars in subsidies to set up its factory there.
A representative said that Homeland Security Investigations is looking into the plant, but that’s all they can say right now.
News in Action Outside the plant, Jax saw several police cars, including ones from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. We’ve also seen the FBI and local police at the plant. On Tuesday afternoon, they were there for several hours.
The investigation is being led by HSI. They are the main detective department of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Their job is to look into international crime and risks, especially criminal groups that use the global infrastructure for their own gain.
Their job is to look into, break up, and get rid of criminal groups that threaten or try to take advantage of U.S. customs and immigration laws.
We told you a few years ago how happy city leaders were that this solar panel factory, which was started in China, was coming to Jacksonville.
The first factory that Jinko Solar built in the United States is in Jacksonville. Inside the building, solar panels for homes and businesses are put together by fast robots.
Mayor Lenny Curry of Jacksonville said that the city worked for a year and a half to get Jinko here. The city offered Jinko a reward package worth $3.4 million from the city and $800,000 from the state.
About 200 jobs were supposed to be created by the building.
On April 25, the Jacksonville City Council decided to accept a $2.3 million grant over 10 years to help them grow. Curry had asked for this to happen. On May 2, the Finance Committee of the City Council agreed with it.
News in Action Jax tried to get in touch with Jinko Solar, but we haven’t heard back yet. We also asked the city of Jacksonville what it had to say. They sent us an email that said, “Because we didn’t know, we can’t say anything about this.”
