It wasn't an IPO, it was an existing company acquiring Truth Social. And yes, it has everything to do with that massive valuation.
If Truth Social had done an actual IPO, their financials would have been subject to public scrutiny ahead of time and the IPO would likely have never gone forward. But since this was an acquisition, much of that financial due diligence was solely the responsibility of the acquiring company. So all of that stuff could remain secret until after the fact.
The penalty doesn't state that any particular companies' filings had incorrect data, though. It just says that the auditor said it followed standard accounting practices, when it did not. And it happened with 1500 different filings, of which Trump Media was only one. Still, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize the reason why this auditor ignored those standards, they might have gotten in the way of the pre-determined result they wanted to get for their clients
The auditing firm for Trump Media and the auditor’s owner were charged Friday with “massive fraud” by the Securities and Exchange Commission for work that affected more than 1,500 SEC filings, the federal regulator announced.
The auditor, BF Borgers CPA and its owner Benjamin Borgers have agreed to be permanently suspended from practicing as accountants before the SEC, and also agreed to pay a combined $14 million in civil penalties, without* admitting or denying the allegations, the SEC said.
So we didn't find out that the SEC thought this auditor committed criminal conduct until the SEC had already negotiated this settlement where they don't have to admit any wrongdoing? Bang up job enforcing the laws there guys, that will definitely deter this kind of conduct from other bad actors in the accounting industry /s
*The article actually says "with" there, but the SEC post it links to says "without," so I'm fairly certain that was a typo in the news article
e; It really should go without saying, but since the conversations on this website have effectively reduced my whole personality to "why aren't more people talking about how this Democratic administration's handling of the federal government is falling short of what that party says they stand for," I feel like I should say I doubt we'd see even this pittance of enforcement out of a Republican government, so, yeah, I sincerely hope these pathetic losers get another four years to keep disappointing me because the alternative is still a hell of a lot worse
Gary gensler just got caught illegally trading crypto soooo. They're all good old boys breaking the law together and paying "fines" that are just the cost of doing business. The SEC is worse than useless, they're too busy watching porn to do their jobs.
