Tesla is suing an oil company executive its says impersonated Elon Musk

REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Tesla is suing an oil executive for allegedly impersonating Elon Musk in order to dig up confidential financial information from the company, Forbes reported.

The lawsuit reportedly filed Wednesday in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County claimed Todd Katz, chief financial officer for Quest Integrity Group, emailed Tesla's chief financial officer under a similar email as Musk's looking to gain information that wasn't disclosed in an earnings call with investors.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Quest Integrity Group has partnerships with BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil, the report said.

According to the lawsuit, Katz used "elontesla@yahoo.com" to send an email to Tesla CFO Jason Wheeler asking about company's sales number and financial projections.

"The point of this action is that this was perceived as an effort to gain inside information, non-public information," said John Hueston, a Los Angeles-based attorney representing the electronic-car-maker.

"Although it was caught here, Tesla is worried about this happening in some other form. This could have resulted in highly valuable information being improperly disclosed," he said.