SEC documents describe Bzinfin as "a holding company for investments of Mr. Zingarevich," adding that the British Virgin Islands corporation is "owned and controlled by Mr. Zingarevich."

Reports in Russia say Mr. Zingarevich and Mr. Medvedev, Mr. Putin's handpicked successor as president, became business partners in St. Petersburg in 1992, when the two men helped found a company known as Fintsel, which later became Ilim Pulp Enterprise, a $1.6 billion producer of pulp and paper.

Mr. Medvedev also served as Ilim's legal director until 1999, when Mr. Putin named him as his chief deputy and later helped him win the Russian presidency.

Ilim Pulp, now known as the OJSC Group, is among the world's top-10 pulp producers and the largest in Russia. Mr. Zingarevich has been identified as Ilim Pulp's majority stockholder and has been a director since its 1992 founding.

SEC records show that Bzinfin SA, an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands that lists Mr. Zingarevich as its "indirect beneficial owner," holds 66 percent of the shares of Ener1's parent company, the Ener1 Group, an $11 billion privately held investment and advisory firm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. According to the records, the Ener1 Group controls 57 percent of Ener1's outstanding common stock.

The records said the voting power over the shares of Ener1 rests with the board of directors of the Ener1 Group. In various federal documents, Mr. Zingarevich is described as the major source of funding for the Ener1 Group and Ener1 and has been listed as a director of both companies.

Companies tied to Mr. Zingarevich have either approved, overseen or authorized $48 million in credit lines and loans to Ener1, according to the government records.

In 2003, Ener1 told the SEC that Bzinfin SA had given an $18 million loan to the Ener1 Group, significant portions of which were used to provide working capital to build its batteries. In a March 12, 2009, report, the company said it had obtained a commitment for a $30 million line of credit from the Ener1 Group in December and that it borrowed $5 million against that in February.

"Our parent company, Ener1 Group, has, from time to time, had loans from its principal investor, Bzinfin SA. Mr. Boris Zingarevich, who is a director of Ener1 Group, is an officer of Bzinfin and controls Bzinfin," Ener1 acknowledged in a May 9, 2005, SEC report.

The document also said Bzinfin SA held the rights to three of Ener1's five pending battery-related patent applications as collateral for the loans from Bzinfin to the Ener1 Group.

Ener1 has acknowledged that Mr. Zingarevich was the first major investor in the company -- his help coming at a time the firm had run into financial difficulties -- and that without his millions of dollars in investments, it would not have survived.

In a written statement, Ener1 denied that any foreign investor had any control over the company, adding that the process of raising additional capital for its lithium-ion battery program had diminished Mr. Zingarevich's stake in the firm.

"Like many American businesses, our stock is owned by a diverse mix of investors," the statement said. "Mr. Zingarevich was the first major investor in the company, and the process of raising additional capital is continuously dilutive over time of his stake, which is a common phenomenon in moving from a start-up to an emerged technology company."

Charles Gassenheimer, Ener1's board chairman and chief executive officer, told reporters earlier this year that the company's foreign investors had no influence on projects or decisions regarding its production of the lithium-ion batteries and that Mr. Zingarevich had no day-to-day role in its operations.

As for Mr. Gaffney's concerns, the company said it learned from "outside sources" that he has a "particular historic enmity toward Russia and Russians" and it hoped he had not allowed that to "obscure his view of the facts."

The company noted that no money provided under the government programs could be used for research and development, only to build or modernize its battery manufacturing facilities. It blamed concerns about its foreign investors on a "particular short-seller," whom it said had sought to drive down its share price.

It said the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which regulates securities firms, is investigating the matter. FINRA would neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation.

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