SAN FRANCISCO — The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an auditing firm hired by Trump Media and Technology Group only 37 days ago with “massive fraud” on Friday, but not for any work done for former President Donald Trump’s media company.

The SEC accused the accounting firm BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin F. Borgers, of “deliberate and systematic failures” in over 1,500 audits.

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Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’

The charges include failing to follow accounting regulations, falsifying documents to conceal flaws, and falsely claiming in audit reports that its work fulfilled audit criteria.

To settle SEC accusations, BF Borgers agreed to pay a $12 million fine, while its owner consented to pay a $2 million fine, according to the SEC. Benjamin Borgers did not immediately return a phone for comment.

BF Borgers and Benjamin Borgers both agreed to permanent sanctions, which will take effect immediately and prevent them from handling SEC-related matters as accountants.

According to the company’s most recent annual report filing, Trump Media appointed BF Borgers as its auditor on March 28. The business acknowledged that BF Borgers had similarly addressed its audits before its public offering by combining with a cash-rich shell company called Digital World Acquisition Corp.

The company had already hired at least two other auditors, one who resigned from the account in July 2023 and another who was fired by the board in March, just as it was rehiring BF Borgers.

Trump Media “looks forward to working with new auditing partners in accordance with today’s SEC order.”

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Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’

The SEC discovered that BF Borgers’ shortcuts included:

• Copying audit documents from the prior year.
• Changing the pertinent dates.
• Passing it off as current documentation.

In addition to inaccurately recording work that was never completed, the fake documentation detailed planning meetings with clients that never took place and “falsely represented” that both Benjamin Borgers and another reviewer had authorized the audit work.

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Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’

“Ben Borgers and his audit firm, BF Borgers, were responsible for one of the largest wholesale failures by gatekeepers in our financial markets,” stated Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s enforcement director. “Thanks to the painstaking work of the SEC staff, Borgers and his sham audit mill have been permanently shut down.”

SOURCE – (AP)

Los Angeles — Dan Schneider, a former Nickelodeon producer and writer, sued the makers of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” on Wednesday, claiming the documentary series falsely claimed that he sexually abused the child actors with whom he worked.

Schneider filed a defamation lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Warner Bros. Discovery and the other corporations involved in the series.

Schneider, a former teen actress, was a key figure in Nickelodeon’s dominance of youth culture in the 1990s and 2000s. She worked on sketch series “All That,” “The Amanda Show,” and “Kenan & Kel,” as well as as an executive producer on shows such as “Zoey 101,” “iCarly,” and “Victorious.”

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Ex-Nickelodeon Producer Schneider Sues ‘Quiet On Set’ Makers For Defamation And Sex Abuse Implications

He is also a prominent figure in “Quiet on Set,” which premiered on true crime cable channel ID in March. It has since been streamed on Max, creating a big splash among Nickelodeon’s former stars and fans. It includes cast and crew interviews to expose the show’s sexualization of young teens, as well as a poisonous and abusive work climate that many blamed Schneider for. It also contains accounts of sexual assault of young performers, including “The Amanda Show” and “Drake & Josh” star Drake Bell, by crew members who were eventually convicted.

Schneider, who left Nickelodeon in 2018, claimed in the lawsuit that the “Quiet on Set” trailer and episodes of the show purposefully mixed and juxtaposed images and mentions of him with criminal sexual abusers to imply he was complicit.

“The portrayal of Schneider in ‘Quiet on Set’ is a hit job,” according to the lawsuit. “While it is indisputable that two bona fide child sexual abusers worked on Nickelodeon shows, it is likewise indisputable that Schneider had no knowledge of their abuse, was not complicit in the abuse, condemned the abuse once it was discovered and, critically, was not a child sexual abuser himself.”

The lawsuit names Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of ID and Max, as defendants as well as the show’s producing firms, Sony Pictures Television and Maxine Productions.

Emails requesting comments from representatives of the three companies were not immediately replied.

The four-part series implies that Schneider’s shows had a tendency to place young women in funny situations with sexual connotations, and it portrays him as an angry and emotionally abusive boss.

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Ex-Nickelodeon Producer Schneider Sues ‘Quiet On Set’ Makers For Defamation And Sex Abuse Implications

It includes direct charges of sexual harassment and gender discrimination from women who worked as writers for him on “All That.” They claimed he exhibited pornography on his computer in their presence in the writers’ room and asked for massages, joking that they would lead to the women’s sketches appearing on the show, which Schneider denies.

It also includes an interview with Bell, who claims “extensive” and “brutal” sexual assault at the hands of a dialogue coach when he was 15, as well as an interview with the mother of another girl who was sexually abused by one of the crew members.

The Associated Press normally does not identify persons who claim to have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Bell has.

Following the show’s release, Schneider apologized in a YouTube video for “past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret.”

However, the lawsuit claims that the show, particularly the trailer, unjustly implicates him in child sexual abuse by presenting photographs of him — including some with his arm around young actors — during discussions about an unsafe atmosphere for children.

The lawsuit seeks damages to be assessed at trial for “the destruction of Schneider’s reputation and legacy” caused by “false statements and implications.”

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Ex-Nickelodeon Producer Schneider Sues ‘Quiet On Set’ Makers For Defamation And Sex Abuse Implications

Nickelodeon, which is not involved in the lawsuit, stated in a statement about the series that it cannot “corroborate or negate” allegations made decades ago, but it investigates all formal complaints and has strict processes for working with minors.

“Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew but of all children,” a spokesperson for the network said in a statement. We have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”

SOURCE – (AP)

Britney Spears and her on-again, off-again boyfriend reportedly got into a “major fight” at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles early Thursday morning, prompting the dispatch of an ambulance.

The singer is claimed to be healthy and was not brought to the hospital, but the incident has raised concerns about her health.

Multiple media agencies published photos of Spears on Thursday, showing her barefoot and clutching a pillow next to Paul Richard Soliz, with whom she has been linked since late summer, while emergency responders appear to transport her possessions on a stretcher.

It’s unclear what transpired in the hours preceding the Los Angeles Fire Department call. Spears addressed “fake” news in a social media post shortly after the photos were released, claiming she “twisted” her ankle.

An LAFD representative confirmed that an ambulance was dispatched to an address that corresponds to the renowned Los Angeles hotel.

“The LAFD received a 911 call at around 12:42 a.m. this morning [Thursday] requesting aid for an injured adult female at [Chateau Marmont], but the caller did not offer any specifics regarding the injury,” Brian Humphrey said in a statement to Yahoo News.

“One LAFD paramedic ambulance responded to the scene. At this point, it is unclear whether the paramedics encountered the injured person or provided any medical aid. The paramedic ambulance left the scene at 1:17 a.m. without taking anyone to the hospital.”

Ambulance Called for Britney Spears: Yahoo Image

Reps for Britney Spears did not respond to Yahoo News request for comment.

An eyewitness told Entertainment Tonight, “Britney went out with Paul Richard Soliz and others. Someone handed her a blanket to throw over, and a cushion covered her front.

She moved a few feet, turned around, and returned without getting into the stretcher they had brought out.” According to the site, a member of Spears’ entourage spoke with paramedics.

Police responded earlier this evening to a probable assault with a deadly weapon.

The Los Angeles Police Department said that officers arrived at Chateau Marmont “around 10:30 [p.m. on Wednesday] for a possible ADW suspect.”

“It was secondhand information from the caller stating the suspect was threatening people at the location,” according to a press release. “When officers arrived, all parties had left, including the caller. Officers were unable to identify whether a crime had happened.

Brittney Spears is home safely.

As previously stated, the superstar did not travel by ambulance. CNN quotes a source close to the singer as saying she is “home and safe” after a “major fight” with Soliz.

Who is aul Richard Soliz?

Spears has been seeing her former housekeeper since the breakdown of her marriage to Sam Asghari in August 2023. According to reports from September, Spears and Soliz broke their relationship weeks after it began, due in part to his criminal history. They eventually reconciled, though.

“She’s a phenomenal woman,” he told US Weekly in September. “She’s a very good, positive person… “She is a good person.”

Spears claimed on social media that she “twisted my ankle last night” and called out paramedics who “showed up at my door illegally.”

“Just to let people know… the news is fake!!!” the caption said. “I would like respect at this time so that people understand I am growing stronger every day!!! Truth stinks, so can someone teach me how to lie?

Goddesses out there, I’m reaching my higher power, and I hope you are too!!! … I also twisted my ankle last night, and paramedics arrived at my door illegally. They never came into my room, but I felt completely harassed.