Trump Media's accounting company accused of 'massive fraud'

BF Borgers formerly worked for Trump Media & Technology Group, along with over 300 other firms

Trump Media & Technology Group’s independent accounting company, BF Borgers, was charged on Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud and accused of running a ”sham audit mill.

However, there was no suggestion of impropriety made against Trump Media (DJT), who was not mentioned in the charges from the US regulatory body. Among the charges leveled at BF Borgers were “deliberate and systemic failures,” which included “fabricating” audits and leading clients to believe that their work would comply with the rigors of accounting practices, reports CNN.

The SEC said these charges constitute “massive” fraud. The infractions took place between January 2021 and June 2023, with more than 1,500 SEC filings and over 500 public companies impacted. As a consequence, the SEC imposed punitive measures against BF Borgers, including $14 million in fines and permanently suspending the firm from acting as accountant before the SEC, which is effective immediately.

“Borgers and his sham audit mill have been permanently shut down,” said Gurbir Grewal, who is the director of the SEC’s enforcement division.

Meanwhile, public companies who commissioned the services of BF Borgers as accountants must find a new firm confirmed by the SEC, with Trump Medisa signaling their intentions to part ways with the accountants.

“Trump Media looks forward to working with new auditing partners in accordance with today’s SEC order,” said Trump Media spokesperson Shannon Devine.

Borgers were Trump Media’s independent registered accountants prior to the social media company going public in March. Later in the month, the audit committee of Trump Media rubberstamped Borgers as the company’s accounting firm.

Trump media is the biggest name formerly represented by Borgers, but they represented over 350 clients, according to the SEC. Meanwhile, the firm also represented private firms, and this work was not part of the official investigation.

Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for the upcoming presidential election, chairs Trump Media. The former US President is also the most popular Truth Social user.

Despite a valuation of $9 billion, Trump Media is still a relatively obscure name in the world of social media and generates little income. Daily, Truth Social only has 113,000 active users in the United States. Per Similarweb, a data intelligence company, X has 300 times more daily users.

According to the SEC report, 75 percent of Borger’s clients didn’t conform to accounting standards. In 2019, Colorado regulators enacted disciplinary measures against the company. Meanwhile, in 2023, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants removed BF Borgers from its peer review.

They described the accountancy company as having been “found to be so seriously deficient in its performance that education and remedial, corrective actions are not adequate.”

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