The Issue: The decision by execs at the solar-panel firm Solyndra to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights.
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Solyndra was like the Bamboo Lounge in the movie “Goodfellas” (“A Fifth of Solyndra,” Editorial, Sept. 24).
In the movie, liquor and equipment, purchased with bank loans, went in the front door and disappeared out the back.
When no more dollars could be extracted from this sham of a business, they torched it for the insurance.
Solyndra officials’ invoking of the Fifth Amendment is the not- unexpected outcome of a shady deal where greed and politics trumped the economics of business and law.
The Post’s mob ana-logy is spot on.
Ray Arroyo
Westwood, NJ
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One way to solve the problem and greatly reduce Obama’s green-energy fraud would be to require the management of any firm that accepts stimulus money to unconditionally waive its Fifth Amendment rights on any matter regarding receiving or spending the cash.
W. Ackerman
Seminole, Fla.
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There is still more to “A Fifth of Solyndra.”
In addition to taxpayers losing $535 million under the Department of Energy loan, other federal agencies also provided millions of dollars in grants to states, cities, counties and towns to purchase solar panels produced by Solyndra and other recipients of grants under their respective programs.
Uncle Sam and many states provide other tax credits to those who purchase solar panels.
At the end of the day, the loss to taxpayers could be closer to a billion dollars.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
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When was the last time raids were conducted on a company and its executives’ homes on the same day that the company filed for bankruptcy?
Those executives had little choice but to take the Fifth, as they were involved in a continuing investigation.
It all seems a bit suspicious to me.
Bill Ferguson
Reno, Nev.