The affected auditing firm, BF Borgers CPA, and its owner, Benjamin Borgers, have been suspended from practicing accounting with the SEC, the regulator said in a statement today.
The company and Borgers agreed to collectively pay a total of $14 million in penalties, although without admitting or denying the allegations.
According to the statement, the SEC accused BF Borgers of “deliberate and systematic failures,” including “fabricating” audit documentation and falsely representing to clients — including Trump Media — that its work complied with the regulations.
The North American government agency estimates that the fraud occurred between January 2021 and June 2023, affecting more than 500 companies that had hired BF Borgers and will now have to find new accounting companies.
The reports in question are periodically presented to the SEC with the aim of providing information to investors and analysts, so that they can evaluate companies with shares listed on the stock exchange.
The director of the SEC’s enforcement division, Gurbir Grewal, said that “Borgers and his mock auditor have been permanently terminated,” the statement said.
The media and technology company Trump Media, founded in January 2021, and whose majority shareholder is former US president and Republican pre-candidate Donald Trump, has already announced plans to hire a new auditing company. Trump Media encompasses the social network Truth Social, founded by the former president.
Tags: Trump Media auditor suspended fraud Securities Exchange Commission Current Affairs
