Feds slam Michigan battery firm, saying funds wasted

Detroit Free Press: Electric car battery company LG Chem Michigan was slammed by a federal audit Wednesday for not selling a single battery since receiving a $150-million federal grant in 2009 and for paying $1.6 million to workers who volunteered for animal shelters, watched movies and played video games.

The company received the federal grant from the Department of Energy and also $175 million worth of state and local tax relief. The inspector general for the Energy Department began investigating the use of the grant money after receiving reports of abuses last fall.

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