Image Source: Visual China

BEIJING, April 15 (TMTPOST) — Electric vehicle startup has removed its founder Jia Yueting from the position of chief executive officer after a months-long international investigation into allegations of fraud, according to a news report by Bloomberg.

Wang Jiawei, one of the core senior management members of Faraday Future and a close ally of Jia, had resigned from Faraday Future. Sources close to Faraday Future said that the conflict between the board and the management team led by Jia has been intensifying. Faraday Future’s management team, led by Jia and comprised of Chinese managers, has seen their influence significantly weakened by the board.

Wang is the son of Jia Yuefang, Jia Yueting’s older sister. He studied at the Central University of Finance and Economics and New York University. After graduating from college in 2014, Wang went to work at Leshi. In 2018, Wang was appointed as vice president of the Global Capital Markets.

Faraday Future said in a filing on Thursday that Jia will continue to serve as the company’s chief product and user ecosystem officer and report directly to the chairman. Jia’s work will be limited to Faraday Future’s product and mobility ecosystem and its Internet, artificial intelligence and advanced R&D technology. Jia will no longer serve as an executive officer, the filing says.

It remains unclear whether Faraday Future will be able to file its 2021 fiscal report in time after the fraud investigation. The company might be delisted from Nasdaq if it could not meet the requirements.

On October 7, 2021, Faraday Future was hit by a series of fraud allegations made by short-seller J Capital Research.

J Capital Research said in its report that Jia was able to maintain his control over Faraday Future through hiring and promoting relatives and direct holdings. At that time, Jia’s nephew Wang Jiawei was the vice president of the Global Capital Markets at Faraday Future.

In response to the accusations, Faraday Future established a committee of independent directors to conduct an internal investigation. The investigation found that there are inaccurate statements about the pre-ordering of FF91.