FBI, EPA, and Treasury told Citibank to freeze funds as Trump administration tries to claw back climate money
Citibank revealed in court docket filings on Wednesday that the FBI, the EPA, the EPA inspector normal, and the Treasury Division have all requested that the financial institution freeze accounts of a number of nonprofits and state authorities companies.
The accounts have been frozen in February, however the new documents make public particulars that had beforehand been unknown, together with a full record of the nonprofits below FBI scrutiny.
The funds have been disbursed as a part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gasoline Discount Fund, which was created by the Inflation Discount Act, a legislation passed by Congress in 2022. Of that, the EPA acquired $14 billion for a National Clean Investment Fund, which supplies grants to inexperienced banks.
Inexperienced banks use these funds to supply financing for clear know-how initiatives across the nation. Startups which have applied sciences which might be able to scale commercially have been eligible to obtain financing to make initiatives a actuality.
The funding was principally for use for loans, which have been to be paid again and recycled for future lending. Inexperienced banks are likely to have delinquency charges on par with industrial and residential portfolios held by different industrial lenders.
Citibank was chosen because the monetary agent to manage that cash, holding it in accounts below the names of the awardees. It is usually administering a separate, $6 billion Clear Communities Funding Accelerator program. The EPA’s contract with Citibank was publicly introduced in April 2024.
The FBI has requested that Citibank place 30-day administrative freezes on accounts held by nonprofits that have been recipients of the inexperienced financial institution funding. It additionally requested the financial institution to freeze different nonprofit and state authorities company accounts, together with Habitat for Humanity, United Means, the Colorado Clear Power Fund, and New York State Division of Taxation and Finance.
Three nonprofits that acquired inexperienced financial institution funds have sued Citibank, asking the financial institution to launch the cash of their accounts.
EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has stated that the Greenhouse Gasoline Discount Fund doesn’t align with the company’s priorities and that he has issues about fraud, although he has not supplied proof to help that declare.
