Trump Media dismisses auditor BF Borgers amid SEC fraud charges
FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 – Miami Grand Prix – Miami International Autodrome, Miami, Florida, United States – May 5, 2024 Republican Presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of the Miami Grand Prix REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
(Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s media and technology company said it had replaced its auditor, BF Borgers, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the accounting firm with “massive fraud” on Friday.
Trump Media & Technology Group said in a filing with the SEC on Monday that it had switched to Semple, Marchal & Cooper on Saturday. The change was recommended and approved by the company’s audit committee.
Borgers, the auditor of the Truth Social parent since 2022, agreed to a $12 million civil penalty and to discontinue practicing as accountants on SEC filings, the agency said.
Trump Media is looking forward to working with its new auditing partners following the SEC’s decision, a spokesperson for the company said in an emailed statement on Friday.
According to the SEC, Borgers did not properly maintain and audit documentation, fabricated audit planning meetings and in some cases, passed off previous audits for the current audit period.
Shares of Trump Media have witnessed significant volatility since they began trading on March 26, prompting the company to send a letter to Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman last month, alerting the exchange to “potential market manipulation” in the stock.
Shares of the company were down about 2% in premarket trading.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)