Trump Pressures Executive to Transfer Shares to Spouse

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] The Washington Post (WP) reported on the 15th (local time) that former U.S. President Donald Trump pressured company executives to transfer shares to his wife Melania, violating securities laws.

According to the report, Will Wilkerson, a former member of the parent company of the social media platform 'Truth Social' directly created by former President Trump, 'Trump Media & Technology Group' (TMTG), provided internal documents supporting the company's illegal activities to federal investigative agencies and WP along with these allegations. He is also pursuing recognition as a whistleblower.

According to Wilkerson, the person pressured to transfer shares to Melania was Andy Litinsky, one of the co-founders of TMTG. In October last year, Litinsky received a call from former President Trump asking, "Would you transfer some shares to Melania?" and immediately confided this to Wilkerson. Five months later, he was dismissed from the company's board of directors.

Wilkerson and Litinsky believe that his dismissal was retaliation for refusing to transfer shares to Melania. It is unknown whether Litinsky still holds shares in the company. He did not respond to email and phone inquiries regarding this matter.

TMTG's corporate value significantly increased as the merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) 'Digital World Acquisition' (DWAC) was promoted. Former President Trump is reported to have received ownership of 90% of the company shares in exchange for the use of his name and partial participation in the company.

However, since December last year, the merger between the two parties has made no clear progress after investigations were launched by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Wilkerson, through his lawyer, claims that he has exposed the company's unfair practices that occurred after the launch of Trump Media through hundreds of company documents, photos, and audio recordings submitted to the SEC, and insists that he should be protected as a whistleblower.

He stated that Trump Media presented a blueprint to develop into an emerging media empire equipped with social media, video streaming, live events, and online payment systems, but such plans were not properly pursued due to intense internal conflicts, technical failures, and power struggles among Trump's close associates.

He also pointed out that Trump Media's plan to raise investment funds through the SPAC was based on "fraudulent misrepresentations," which constitutes a violation of federal securities laws.

Wilkerson further revealed that after the company's establishment, the Trump Organization, the Trump family's company, interfered with the company's operations, and two sons unrelated to Trump Media, Donald Jr. and Eric, continued to demand company shares in an unfair manner.

In response to WP's questions about Wilkerson's claims, Trump Media expressed discomfort in a statement, saying, "The company has already achieved considerable success," and "WP is asking questions full of false and defamatory claims and manipulated information, ignoring this success."

Trump Media fired Wilkerson on the 13th for "unauthorized disclosure of company information without permission," after he submitted whistleblower materials to the SEC in August, and Wilkerson's side is protesting, claiming it is retaliation against the whistleblower.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.