The electric-vehicle startup GreenTech Automotive is under investigation by federal authorities over its use of a government program that allows foreign investors to get special visas to the United States, according to a news report.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed documents from the McLean, Va., company in May based on allegations that the company guaranteed investors a return on their investment, the Washington Post reported, citing documents obtained by the newspaper.

GreenTech, which was co-founded by Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and has ties to Chinese automakers, has developed a two-seat electric “neighborhood vehicle” called the MyCar. McAuliffe, a former Democratic Party chairman, resigned from the company at the end of last year as he launched his campaign for governor.

A spokeswoman for GreenTech could not be reached for comment, but the company confirmed to the Post that it has received the subpoena.

The investigation centers on a visa program called EB-5, which specifies that every $500,000 invested in an economically distressed area qualifies the investor for a green card, which allows a foreign family to get permanent-resident status in the United States.

The agency has recently cracked down on alleged abuse of the program. This February the SEC froze the assets of an Illinois company that regulators said duped Chinese investors into believing they were investing in a hotel and conference center near O’Hare Airport in Chicago.

The investigation could present a new challenge to GreenTech, which for years has fought skepticism about its business model.

McAuliffe shot back in 2011 after a report in Automotive News described GreenTech — which then had 50 employees and a goal of selling 100,000 MyCars for $10,000 apiece — as “long on promotion and short on credibility.”

In a letter to the editor of Automotive News, McAuliffe wrote: “We remain entrepreneurs in our unwavering commitment to American job creation, quality products and doing business in the new ways globalization demands.”

GreenTech says it has continued to press forward this year, inking a deal in April with the Chinese state-owned automaker JAC Motors to develop an electric sedan for assembly in the United States. JAC sells an electric sedan called the J3 in China.

GreenTech then said in July that it has spent $6.6 million to prepare the site for an assembly plant in Tunica, Miss., 15 miles south of Memphis, Tenn.

The company says it intends to finish the plant by December. GreenTech says the plant would have a production capacity of 30,000 vehicles a year and begin production in April 2014.