Donald Trump's Truth Social Cuts Staff While Feds Look Into Possible Money Laundering Scheme in Trump Media

Donald Trump is already facing a litany of investigations. Now, federal investigators are looking into his social media company Truth Social for a possible money laundering scheme. All this is happening while Trump Media laid off employees due to a possible merger.

According to Bloomberg, Truth Social, which is owned by the Trump Media & Technology Group, laid off around half a dozen people, including senior members of its staff. This includes Chief Technology Officer William "BJ" Lawson.

Trump Media and Truth Social Awaiting Merger Approval

The company is facing financial problems, and a merger with the Digital World SPAC is offering a big financial lifeline to the embattled company. However, it is still awaiting regulatory approval for this to happen.

Trump launched Truth Social last year after he was banned from both Facebook and Twitter following the January 6 Capitol insurrection. It promised to offer more "freedom of speech" to users, though has since only served as a propaganda mouthpiece as it continuously flailed in trying to get people to sign up.

According to the Business Insider, Trump Media has stated that the company wanted to "even the playing field in the media and tech industry by creating platforms where people can share content without fear of reputational ruin."

With the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reviewing the deal, Trump Media's general counsel sent a letter asking Congress to investigate the government regulator, claiming that the "endless investigation of the DWAC-TMTG merger constitutes an unprecedented attempt to kill the deal without any finding of wrongdoing."

At current spending levels, Trump Media could reportedly fund itself until September this year.

Concern About Trump Media and Money Laundering

The SEC is examining the social media company whether it violated money laundering statutes in connection with the acceptance of $8 million from sources with suspected Russian ties. The investigation over this started with its potential merger with a blank check company called Digital World.

The investigations were launched last year, and federal prosecutors are examining whether those loans, which came from two obscure entities that both appear to be controlled in part by the relation of an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, were part of a money laundering scheme.

This investigation threatens to delay the merger, which was why the company's lawyers wanted to have the SEC investigated. The Guardian noted that it is still unclear how much exposure Trump Media executives had to money laundering and that prosecutors are required "to show that defendants knew the money was the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and the transaction was designed to conceal its source."

The company was really struggling and needed a big loan to keep itself afloat. This was when DWAC's chief executive Patrick Orlando sent a $2 million load wired from Paxum Bank registered in Dominica, according to a wire transfer receipt reviewed by the Guardian.

The true identity of the lenders was not revealed by Orland, but Paxum Bank was identified as the beneficial owner. The U.S. attorney's office for the southern district of New York is now examining the Russian connection, as the owner of Paxum Bank is Anton Postolnikov, who appears to be a relation of Putin ally Aleksandr Smirnov.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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