(Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged Patrick Orlando, former head of Digital World Acquisition Corp, who helped former U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media company go public, with securities fraud.
In a filing with the District of Columbia court, the SEC said Orlando violated securities rules by making false and misleading statements while running the blank-check company.
Orlando misled investors by failing to disclose that his company had formulated a plan to acquire Trump Media & Technology Group Corp and was pursuing the acquisition before DWAC’s initial public offering, the filing shows.
In March, Digital World completed its merger with Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of the Trump-backed social media platform Truth Social.
In July last year, DWAC had settled the statutory charge of ‘material misrepresentation’ to investors.
The SEC had said DWAC violated the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The company had agreed to a cease and desist order and a fine of $18 million if it completed the merger.
