BF Borgers, the accounting firm that handles the financial audits of Trump Media & Technology Group, has been charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly conducting a broad operation to misrepresent its audit process.
According to a statement released Friday by the SEC, at least 75% of the audits Borgers performed on the 369 companies he worked with from January 2021 to June 2023 did not comply with federal regulations. The SEC claims the company failed to properly maintain documentation of its work and alleges it created fraudulent documentation on multiple occasions.
“Thanks to the careful work of the SEC staff, Borgers and its fictitious audit mill have been permanently shut down,” Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said in the release.
Owner Benjamin Borgers and his company agreed to pay $14 million and face a permanent suspension from practicing accounting as part of a settlement with federal regulators, which did not require an admission of guilt. Each of Borgers’ clients will be forced to find new auditors, according to the SEC.
The filing makes no mention of Trump Media, which told CNN it plans to find a new accounting partner in accordance with the SEC’s order. BF Borgers worked with Trump Media long before it became a public company and audited its April prospectus to issue more shares.
Because Trump Media was not a public company during the SEC’s investigation, its prior filings were not examined for fraudulent accounting practices.
Trump Media, owner of Truth Social, was one of the company’s most valued clients, currently reaching a whopping $6.6 billion valuation despite minimal revenue. Although the SEC said Trump Media and others did not necessarily need to amend the documents Borgers worked on, it advised that the forms be amended “to address any deficiencies in the reporting.”
News Source : www.salon.com
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