Anamika Dey, editor
Brief news
- Former CEO of Digital World Acquisition Corp. is sued by the SEC for deceiving the agency about the company’s intentions to merge with Trump Media.
- The SEC alleges that the CEO made false statements in public filings and had engaged in discussions with Trump Media representatives for months.
- The SEC is seeking to compel the CEO to relinquish ill-gotten gains, impose civil penalties, and issue a permanent injunction against engaging in such behavior.
Detailed news
The former CEO of the blank-check company that amalgamated with Trump Media was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for deceiving the agency regarding the company’s intentions to merge with Donald Trump’s social media startup.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday night in federal court in Washington, D.C., the commission alleged that Patrick Orlando had been dishonest in public filings when he stated that his company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., had not contacted any potential merger targets and had no specific merger plans.
the SEC’s civil complaint alleged that “Orlando was aware that these statements were false.”
The SEC claimed that “he had personally engaged in numerous lengthy discussions” with Trump Media’s representatives and had targeted the company for “months.”
The SEC requested that the court compel Orlando to relinquish “all ill-gotten gains” as a consequence of his alleged violations, in addition to imposing civil penalties and a permanent injunction that would prevent him from engaging in that behavior.
Orlando and Trump Media did not immediately respond to CNBC’s inquiries for comment.
In March, Trump Media and Digital World concluded their extensive public merger, which enabled the organization responsible for the Truth Social platform to trade on the Nasdaq under the stock symbol DJT.
Source : CNBC News
