PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - The Latest on federal law enforcement raids at Caterpillar facilities in central Illinois (all times local):
4 p.m.
Caterpillar says it believes that a search warrant executed by federal authorities on Thursday at its facilities concerns “export filings” related to its Switzerland subsidiary CSARL.
In a statement Thursday after federal agents appeared at its Peoria, Illinois, headquarters and other Illinois facilities, Caterpillar says the issue it concerns was first disclosed in a 2015 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
At that time, the Caterpillar said the SEC had notified the manufacturer that it was conducting an informal investigation relating to CSARL, and asked the company to preserve relevant documents.
Caterpillar spokeswoman Corrie Heck Scott said in an email that the company is cooperating with law enforcement.
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12:30 p.m.
Authorities say the IRS and other federal agencies are taking part in what Caterpillar says is the execution of a search warrant at three of its central Illinois facilities.
Sharon Paul of the U.S. Attorney’s Office says the agencies involved in the raids Thursday are: the IRS’s criminal investigation unit; the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s office of inspector general.
She says the “law enforcement activity is at Caterpillar facilities in Peoria, East Peoria and Morton.” She declined to comment further.
Caterpillar spokeswoman Corrie Heck Scott says the company is cooperating with law enforcement personnel executing the search warrant, but she has not commented further.
Caterpillar is one of the biggest farming construction equipment manufacturers in the world.
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11:50 a.m.
Caterpillar says federal law enforcement officials are executing a search warrant at the company’s facilities in central Illinois.
Caterpillar spokeswoman Corrie Heck Scott said in an email Thursday that the company is cooperating with law enforcement but didn’t comment further.
Sharon Paul, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Springfield, says “federal law enforcement activity” is being conducted at three Caterpillar locations in Peoria, East Peoria and Morton. Paul declined to elaborate or even say if the authorities are executing a search warrant.
Caterpillar is a farming construction equipment manufacturer and is one of the biggest companies of its kind on the world.
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