The auditor tasked with scrutinizing the financial affairs of former President Donald Trump’s social media venture seems to have stumbled over the basic task of spelling—particularly when it came to his own name. Ben F Borgers, head honcho of the accounting firm BF Borgers, apparently couldn’t settle on a single spelling of his own name, as revealed by the Financial Times.
According to the FT’s investigation into data from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Borgers managed to churn out his name in a baffling array of 14 different variations in regulatory filings. While some variations, like Ben F Brogers and Ben F orgers, appeared to be mere typos, others veered into the realm of downright identity crisis, with monikers like Blake F Borgers and Ben F Vonesh making an appearance.
But Borgers’ spelling struggles are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the shoddy workmanship of his firm. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board uncovered a laundry list of deficiencies plaguing every audit they received from BF Borgers over the past two years, Bloomberg reported.
And if that wasn’t damning enough, Borgers’ firm got the boot from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ peer review program last November. The reason? Their performance was so abysmal that mere education and remedial actions wouldn’t cut it.
Trump Media & Technology Group might have thought they were getting a steal when they hired BF Borgers as their auditor in January 2022, but they were sorely mistaken. This move came hot on the heels of their previous auditor, WithumSmith+Brown, throwing in the towel after a mere few months.
WithumSmith+Brown’s departure wasn’t just a casual change of heart—it was a clear sign they wanted nothing to do with Trump and his ventures. And who could blame them? The tumultuous ride of Trump Media’s stock prices, initially rocketing before nosediving by a whopping 40%, would give anyone financial whiplash.
Trump’s roller coaster of wealth, tied intimately to the fortunes of Trump Media, saw him catapulted into billionaire status before plummeting back to earth, knocking him off the esteemed Forbes list.
While Trump might have been eyeing a payday from selling his shares, a six-month lockup period put a damper on his plans. And with mounting legal debts, including a hefty $175 million bond for a New York civil fraud case and an $83.3 million tab owed to E. Jean Carroll, Trump’s financial woes are far from over.
Trump is currently juggling multiple criminal cases, including allegations of falsifying business records to hush up a sex scandal with Stormy Daniels. With three more criminal cases looming on the horizon, it seems Trump’s post-presidential life is shaping up to be anything but smooth sailing.
