The co-founder of former president Donald Trump’s social media company has turned whistleblower. Will Wilkerson, a former Trump Media and Technology Group executive, has alleged the firm violated federal security laws and that Trump himself pressured executives to hand over lucrative shares to his wife.
Wilkerson told the U.S. government’s financial watchdog that the company’s bid to raise more than $1 billion via an investment vehicle known as a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) relied on “fraudulent misrepresentations… in violation of federal securities laws.”
Trump Media and Technology Group launched the social media platform Truth Social after Twitter and Facebook banned the former president for his role in the Jan. 6 riot on the Capitol.
Wilkerson was fired from his role as senior vice president for operations last week after speaking to the Washington Post. He filed a whistleblower complaint to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August.
The complaint was backed up by a hoard of emails, documents, messages, and audio recordings, all of which detail a pattern of nasty infighting, technical incompetence, and power struggles inside of Trump Media.
Among the emails is an exchange between Wilkerson and fellow co-founder Andy Litinsky, who was allegedly fired as payback for refusing to hand over some of his shares, worth millions of dollars, to former first lady Melania Trump.
The SEC was already investigating the merger between Trump media and the Spac, Digital World Acquisition Corp, which has been on hold since last October due to civil and criminal investigations as well as lackluster investor backing.
New York-based federal prosecutors are also reportedly looking into alleged criminality at Trump Media in relation to the merger. The merger would have led to a $1.3 billion cash injection into the social media platform.
Investors were promised more than 50 million users by 2024. But so far, Trump himself, which is the leading attraction to the platform, has less than 5 million followers. This is a fraction of the 88 million he once had on Twitter.
The legal woes and desperate actions are mounting for the former President as he contends with ongoing pils of investigations at the federal and state level. In addition to federal investigations, there are state investigations in New York, Georgia, and Washington DC over his business practices and his lies about being robbed of victory during the 2020 presidential race.
Last month, the New York attorney general sent a criminal referral to federal prosecutors in New York and at the IRS regarding multiple crimes.
In a separate civil suit, the New York attorney general is seeking $250 million in damages for alleged fraud committed by Trump and his family and business organization.
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