Elon Musk paid private investigator $50,000 to look into British cave

Elon Musk paid a private investigator $50,000 to look into a British cave rescuer who led efforts to rescue 12 trapped boys from a flooded Thai cave system last summer. 

The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive faces a defamation claim brought by Vernon Unsworth after he called the caving expert “sus” and a “pedo guy” on Twitter and told a reporter that he was a “child rapist” via email. 

In new filings in a California court Mr Musk reveals that he made the email allegations after retaining a private investigator via his home office, who reported that Mr Unsworth had begun his relationship with his Thai wife when she was “eleven or twelve years old” and was a “Manther, an older man who prefers young women”. 

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The British investigator was retained after emailing Tesla and SpaceX to tell them that Mr Unsworth had “skeletons in his cupboard”. 

The chief executive said he “believed the investigator to be credible” and had no reason to doubt his findings. 

His email, sent to a BuzzFeed reporter, claimed that Mr Unsworth had moved to Thailand for a “child bride” and frequented areas known for sex trafficking. 

Mr Musk said in the email that his comments were “off the record” but the site published them, arguing that the reporter had not agreed with the arrangement with Mr Musk. 

Mr Unsworth has consistently denied the claims and Mr Musk’s own legal filing also admits that “the investigator lacked solid evidence of Mr Unsworth’s behaviour”. 

Source – https://www.telegraph.co.uk