MORAINE, Ohio — A Chinese auto glass maker says it was not the target of a federal investigation that last week temporarily halted production at its Ohio plant, the subject of the Oscar-winning Netflix film “American Factory.”
The investigation focused on money laundering, possible human smuggling, labor exploitation and financial crimes, Homeland Security agent Jared Murphey said Friday.
Fuyao Glass America said authorities had told the company that a third-party employment agency was at the center of the criminal investigation, according to a document filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Agents from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service, along with local authorities, executed federal search warrants Friday at the Fuyao plant in Moraine and nearly 30 other locations in the Dayton area.
“The company intends to cooperate fully with the investigation,” Lei Shi, Fuyao Glass America community relations manager, said in a statement to the Dayton Daily News. Messages seeking comment were left with the company Monday.
Production was temporarily halted on Friday, but operations resumed by the end of the day, the statement said.
Fuyao took over a shuttered General Motors plant a decade ago and eventually hired more than 2,000 workers to make glass for the auto industry. The company, which received millions in tax breaks and incentives from state and local governments, has said the Ohio plant was the world’s largest auto glass production facility.
In 2019, a production company backed by Barack and Michelle Obama released “American Factory.” The film, which won an Oscar for best documentary in 2020, tackled issues such as workers’ rights, globalization and automation.
Workers overwhelmingly voted against unionization in 2017 after some workers complained about unsafe working conditions, arbitrary policies and unfair treatment on the job. Earlier that year, Fuyao agreed to pay a $100,000 fine after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration charged the company with alleged violations related to machine safety, electrical hazards and a lack of personal protective equipment.
