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Truth Social Ownership Trump media The company hired a new auditor over the weekend after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused its previous accounting firm of committing a massive fraud, according to a regulatory filing Monday.
Trump Media said it hired Semple, Marchal & Cooper LLP on Saturday to replace BF Borgers CPA.
Trump Media fired BF Borgers after the SEC accused the company of failing to conduct actual audits of its clients and other alleged work before signing more than 1,500 regulatory filings for publicly traded companies.
As part of the settlement with the regulator, BF Borgers and its owner Benjamin Borgers agreed to a permanent ban on audits of listed companies and to pay $14 million in fines.
The ban required Trump Media and other publicly traded companies that had used BF Borgers to find new auditors.
“The decision to change independent registered public accounting firms was made with the recommendation and approval of the company’s audit committee,” Trump Media said Monday in an 8-K filing announcing its new auditor.
In a later filing Monday, Trump Media said Semple, Marchal & Cooper was selected “after a detailed evaluation process.”
Trump Media also said in that second filing that it “expects to seek a limited extension of time for its upcoming 10-Q by filing a Form 12b-25 no later than one business day after the original due date for this report.” 10-Qs are quarterly Reports.
Former President Donald Trump owns 65% of Trump Media shares, which trade under the ticker symbol DJT, his initials.
A spokesman for Trump Media did not immediately respond Monday when CNBC asked whether the company planned to ask Semple, Marchal & Cooper to review BF Borgers’ past work to determine whether the company violated the Trump Media case violated auditing industry standards.
Semple, Marchal & Cooper had no immediate comment on his appointment.
The Phoenix-based firm’s website says the accountant has “evolved into an outstanding and highly respected certified public accounting firm” over its four decades of practice.
The SEC called BF Borgers a “sham audit firm” in its civil lawsuit, accusing the Lakewood, Colorado-based company and its owner of “deliberately” and “systematically” failing to conduct audits and quarterly reviews in accordance with public accounting firm standards to carry out.
The SEC filings of more than 500 publicly traded companies were affected by Borgers’ systematic failure to properly vet his clients, the commission said Friday.
Borgers-approved financial information was incorporated into more than 1,500 SEC filings from early 2021 to mid-2023.
Trump Media was not yet listed on the stock exchange at the time of BF Borgers’ alleged conduct. But the company served as Trump Media’s auditor during that time.
Trump Media shares went public on March 26 after the company completed a merger with previously listed shell company Digital World Acquisition Corp. had completed.
The SEC also said Friday that reports from companies that used BF Borgers “do not necessarily need to be amended solely as a result” of the commission’s cease-and-desist order.
“Issuers should, however, consider whether their filings may need to be amended to address any reporting deficiencies arising from BF Borgers’ engagement,” the SEC said.
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In its SEC filing on Monday, Trump Media said: “BF Borgers’ audit reports on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 did not contain an adverse opinion or disclaimer and were not qualified with respect to the scope of the audit or the accounting principles are not qualified or changed.”
“There were no disagreements during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 and in the interim period thereafter up to the date of this report, as that term is defined in Article 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation SK .”, between the Company and BF Borgers regarding matters of accounting principles or practices, disclosure of financial reports, or audit scope or procedures, the disagreements of which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of BF Borgers, would have resulted in BF Borgers Such disagreements would have been referenced in its audit reports,” Trump Media said in the filing.
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2024-05-06 20:34:53
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