According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Tingo Group Inc. misrepresented the amount of money in its Nigerian bank accounts belonging to its subsidiary Tingo Mobile, which only had $50.
The SEC made this announcement on Monday when it filed charges against Mmobuosi Banye, also known as Dozy Mmobuosi, and three US-based subsidiary companies, Tingo Group Inc., Agri-Fintech Holdings Inc., and Tingo International Holdings Inc., all of which he serves as CEO of.
The commission claims that Mmobuosi is facing charges related to an alleged multi-year plan to deceive investors globally by inflating the financial performance measures of his firms and their operating subsidiaries.
The SEC states that it is requesting emergency relief in order to safeguard investor and company assets and stop the defendants from continuing to provide investors with materially inaccurate information.
In a statement, SEC said, “The SEC’s complaint, filed on December 18, 2023, alleges that, since at least 2019, Mmobuosi spearheaded a scheme to fabricate financial statements and other documents of the three entities and their Nigerian operating subsidiaries, Tingo Mobile Limited and Tingo Foods PLC. The complaint further alleges that Mmobuosi made and caused the entities to make material misrepresentations about their business operations and financial success in press releases, periodic SEC filings, and other public statements.
“For instance, Tingo Group’s fiscal year 2022 Form 10-K filed in March 2023 reported a cash and cash equivalent balance of $461.7m in its subsidiary Tingo Mobile’s Nigerian bank accounts. In reality, those same bank accounts allegedly had a combined balance of less than $50 as of the end of fiscal year 2022. According to the SEC’s complaint, Defendants also fabricated the customer relationships that formed the basis of their purported businesses.
“The complaint alleges that Mmobuosi and the entities he controls have 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.”
The four defendants in the SEC’s action are accused of breaking the federal securities laws’ anti-fraud provisions. The case was brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
According to the commission, Mmobuosi is also accused of insider trading, lying to auditors, and neglecting to submit Forms 4 that would have revealed the sales of millions of shares of Agri-Fintech common stock, of which he was the ultimate beneficial owner.
