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The Treasury Department put pressure on Citi not to take delivery of a new aircraft, CNBC has learned. Sources say a call Monday night from someone in the department to the bank, expressed "disappointment" in Citi's originial decision to take delivery. The call was said not to be from new Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
Citigroup released a statement saying it has no intention of taking delivery of any new aircraft, a company spokesman told CNBC a day after its plans to take delivery of a new plane sparked criticism.
The company [C
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] says will continue to try to reduce corporate fleet to two fixed-wing aircraft, the spokesman said. Citi currently has five aircraft total, four fixed-wing planes and one helicopter.
On Monday, Citigroup, which has received $45 billion of capital from the US government, was reported to be planning on going through with plans to buy a $50 million business jet.
The company had signed a contract for the plane, a Dassault Falcon 7X, several years ago, and planned to take delivery later this year. The news caused an uproar, and prompted at least one US senator to request that the Obama administration block it.
The New York Post, which was first to report the bank was still buying the new plane, said earlier Monday that Citigroup planned to sell two jets estimated to be worth $27 million each and would use the proceeds to pay for the new aircraft.
But the White House said it frowned on the purchase, with a spokesman saying President Barack Obama does not believe "that's the best use of money" by companies that are receiving taxpayer assistance.
Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said he would ask the Treasury Department to block the sale if the company pursued it.
-Reuters contributed to this report.
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