The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged auditing firm BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin F. Borgers, with “massive fraud” in more than 1,500 audits. The charges include deliberate failures to follow accounting rules, fabricating documentation to cover up shortcomings, and falsely stating that their work met audit standards. Interestingly, this firm was hired by Trump Media and Technology Group just 37 days ago, but the charges are not related to any work done for the former President Donald Trump’s media company.
To settle the charges, BF Borgers agreed to pay a $12 million fine, while Benjamin Borgers agreed to pay a $2 million fine. Both parties also agreed to permanent suspensions, preventing them from handling SEC-related matters as accountants. This comes after the company had already gone through two other auditors, one resigning in July 2023 and another being terminated in March.
In response to the charges, Trump Media stated that they look forward to working with new auditing partners in compliance with the SEC order. The SEC found that BF Borgers had taken shortcuts such as copying audit documentation from previous years, changing dates, and passing it off as current documentation. Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s enforcement division, called this one of the largest failures by gatekeepers in financial markets and praised the SEC staff for shutting down Borgers and his “sham audit mill” permanently.