The auditing firm used by Donald Trump’s social media company, Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., has been accused of “massive fraud” by the Securities and Exchange Commission for work done for hundreds of companies on more than of 1,500 regulatory files.
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The regulatory agency said hundreds of audits carried out by BF Borgers CPA PC contained “deliberate and systemic failures” including false documentation to make it appear its reports met standards set by the Accounting Oversight Board public companies.
The SEC said the company and its owner, Benjamin F. Borgers, agreed to a permanent ban on working as accountants for companies filing with the agency and to pay $14 million in civil penalties. of dollars.
“Ben Borgers and his auditing firm, BF Borgers, were responsible for one of the largest mass gatekeeper bankruptcies in our financial markets,” said Gurbir Grewal, director of the Bank’s enforcement division. DRY. “As a result of their fraudulent conduct, they not only put investors and markets at risk by forcing public companies to include non-compliant audits and reviews in more than 1,500 documents filed with the commission, but they also undermined confidence in our markets. »
A message left by MarketWatch at BF Borgers’ offices in Lakewood, Colorado, was not immediately returned.
According to an order issued by the SEC, BF Borgers was accused of falsely representing to clients that its work complied with accounting oversight board standards and of fabricating audit documents to make it appear that the standards had been respected.
The SEC said that among documents filed by 369 BF Borgers clients between January 2021 and June 2023, 75% included audit information that was substandard.
The SEC did not name the companies whose filings were affected. The firm has provided auditing services to Trump Media & Technology Group DJT, which operates the Truth Social platform, since 2022.
A message sent to representatives of Trump’s media company was not immediately returned.
The company began trading publicly in March after completing a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or blank check company, called Digital World Acquisition Corp.
THE the stock symbol changed from “DWAC” to “DJT”, representing the former president’s initials, when the deal was made.
Extract from the archives (July 2023): Digital World Acquisition Stock Soars as Donald Trump’s SPAC Taking Public Truth Social Settles Fraud Charges
Shares closed trading sessions at levels as high as $66 and as low as $22 since the company went public. The stock price has doubled in recent weeks as the company launched a campaign against short sellers.
On Friday, shares lost about 1% to close at $47.48,…
