December 18, (THEWILL) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Monday, filed charges against Nigerian businessman and CEO of Tingo Group, Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye, aka Dozy Mmobuosi, and three companies of which he is CEO, alleging they inflated the financial performance of the companies and key subsidiaries to defraud investors.
The Nigerian businessman and all three of Tingo’s subsidiaries were listed as defendants in the case with charges ranging from insider trading, lying to auditors, and failing to disclose the sale of millions of common shares for which he was the ultimate beneficial owner and internal control violations.
The fraud pertains mostly to Tingo Mobile PLC (“Tingo Mobile”), a private Nigerian company Mmobuosi founded that purportedly sources and supplies mobile handsets and related data and application services to farmers in Nigeria.
The charges were announced one month after the SEC formally launched an investigation into Tingo Group’s dealings and activities.
Filed before the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York, the 72-page court document seen by THEWILL, said Mmobuosi allegedly fabricated financial statements and other documents of Tingo Group and its subsidiaries, Tingo Mobile and Tingo Foods PLC.
The informed, according to the SEC, have since 2019, booked billions of dollars worth of fictitious transactions through two Nigerian subsidiary companies Mmobuosi founded and controls, reporting hundreds of millions of dollars of non-existent revenues and assets.
The SEC cited Tingo Group’s FY 2022 Form 10-K filed in March 2023, where it reported a cash and cash equivalent balance of $461.7 million residing in Tingo Mobile’s Nigeria bank accounts.
However, the SEC said authentic bank records for the same accounts show a balance of less than $50 for that period.
According to the court filing, Mmobuosi created fake financial statements and forged supporting material to falsely portray Tingo Mobile as a thriving and profitable enterprise with hundreds of millions of annual revenue, profit and available cash, and a broad subscriber base of millions of farmers using its phones and services.
“In reality, throughout 2019, the company had no meaningful operations or customers and about $15 in its bank account,” the filings added.
Mmobuosi was alleged to have used false financial figures and forgeries to effect two related frauds.
Part of the SEC’s filing said, “Mmobuosi made and caused the entities to make material misrepresentations about their business operations and financial success in press releases, periodic SEC filings.
“Mmobuosi fraudulently obtained hundreds of millions in money or property through these schemes, and that Mmobuosi has siphoned off funds for his personal benefit, including purchases of luxury cars and travel on private jets, as well as an unsuccessful attempt to acquire an English Football Club Premier League team, among other things.”
Mmobuosi and the companies could not be immediately reached for comments but Tingo Group said in a statement on its website that it would “fully cooperate” with regulators.
