Dozy Mmobuosi, CEO of Tingo Group, is set to face charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly falsifying financial statements and records of three Tingo Group companies, including Tingo Mobile and Tingo Foods PLC.
The charges involve insider trading, lying to auditors, and failure to declare the sale of millions of common shares, among other offenses. The SEC’s filing reveals that Mmobuosi made material misrepresentations about business operations and financial success through press releases and SEC filings.
The SEC alleges that Mmobuosi fraudulently obtained significant funds, diverting them for personal benefit, including luxury purchases and an unsuccessful attempt to acquire an English Football Club Premier League team.
The accusations come a month after the SEC initiated an inquiry into Tingo Group, leading to a government-imposed halt on trading the Agritech company’s shares. The SEC emphasizes the staggering scope of the fraud, with authorities detailing intentional and material overstatements of revenues, expenses, profits, and assets in SEC filings, public statements, and records provided to auditors.
A study by Hindenburg Group in June 2023 labeled Tingo Group as an “exceptionally obvious scam with completely fabricated financials.” Court documents reveal a litany of corruption allegations against Mmobuosi and linked firms, including intentional overstatements of financials, fraudulent financial transactions, and manipulation of bank records. Instances include filing a falsified GTBank statement in 2020 and a doctored United Bank of Africa balance sheet in 2022.
The SEC states that Mmobuosi and the entities he controls fraudulently obtained hundreds of millions, presenting inflated balance statements from Nigerian banks. The SEC charges highlight the extent of financial misconduct, leading to the suspension of Tingo Group’s trading on NASDAQ pending the conclusion of the case. Mmobuosi’s whereabouts, reportedly based in London, are currently unclear.
