McCormick says Amazon bamboozled Virginia taxpayers

Progressive New Jersey activist Lisa McCormick called for an investigation into possible fraud charges against Jeff Bezos and other Amazon officials in light of the company's decision to postpone much of its HQ2 project in Arlington, Virginia.

This comes as Amazon is set to collect its first tranche of $152 million in taxpayer subsidies from the state of Virginia, despite many of its new hires still working remotely.

The company’s request for payment from Virginia comes just months after Amazon announced two rounds of layoffs totaling 27,000 this year. The company has said its construction pause in Arlington is not a sign of further job cuts.

McCormick's call for an investigation comes in the wake of a tweet by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who criticized those who had opposed her efforts to protect working people in New York City from being "fleeced" by Amazon.

The state of Virginia had committed to giving Amazon up to $750 million for its new Northern Virginia offices, the first phase of which is set to open in June.

However, as of yet, no money has been paid out. Amazon declined to seek out performance grants during the pandemic, and only recently submitted an application for the incentives.

Virginia's incentives for Amazon are supposed to reward the company's progress towards creating 25,000 new jobs in the state by 2030.

Under the deal, state officials will pay Amazon $22,000 for each full-time job with an average salary of $150,000, which is expected to increase each year.

Amazon has consistently been ahead of schedule on hiring, and as of last month had taken on more than 8,000 employees for HQ2. The company could have begun applying for incentives as early as three years ago, but chose to delay submitting a request for payment due to pandemic-related challenges.

While Amazon has said that it is committed to creating jobs in Virginia, McCormick argues that the company's decision to postpone much of its HQ2 project raises questions about whether it has fulfilled its obligations under the agreement.

She is calling for an investigation into possible fraud charges against Bezos and other company officials in order to ensure that taxpayer money is being used appropriately.