The Securities and Exchange Commission accused the auditor of Donald Trump's social-media company of massive fraud affecting hundreds of companies and more than 1,500 regulatory filings.
BF Borgers CPA PC and its founder, Benjamin Borgers, will be permanently suspended from practicing and appearing as accountants before the SEC, and will pay a total of $14 million in fines to settle the probe, the SEC said in a Friday release.
"Ben Borgers and his audit firm, BF Borgers, were responsible for one of the largest wholesale failures by gatekeepers in our financial markets," Gurbir Grewal, the SEC's enforcement chief, said in a statement. "Borgers and his firm completely abandoned that role, but thanks to the painstaking work of the SEC staff, Borgers and his sham audit mill have been permanently shut down."
BF Borgers didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning. The firm has been one of the most prolific auditors in the US. The most recent review of its audits by US regulators found a 100% deficiency rate. In its order, the SEC described false audit work papers, "nonexistent work" and fabricated meetings.
"This is so bad that this guy is not going to be able to do anything of importance to a public company," said Doug Carmichael, former chief auditor of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. became a public company in March. Trump Media "looks forward to working with new auditing partners in accordance with today's SEC order," a representative for the company said.
Trump Media has used the Colorado-based accounting firm since 2022, and retained its services after it went public by merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company. The PCAOB's inspections haven't yet covered BF Borgers' audits of Trump Media, and the conduct covered by the SEC's order were for BF Borgers' work for public companies from January 2021 through June 2023.
