US Charges Nigerian Businessman, Three Companies Over Fraud
The United States 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 for inflating financial records of the companies and key subsidiaries to defraud investors.
According to the commission, Mmobuosi has since 2019 inflated the financial statements of Tingo Mobile Limited. It also stated that, as against the $461.7 million reported for its 2022 fiscal year, the company’s bank account allegedly showed a combined balance of less than $50.
The statement partly reads: “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 SEC also revealed that Mmbuosi had made an unsuccessful attempt to buy a Premier League club earlier in the year.
“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 statement reads.
The commission said it had filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and prayed six emergency applications, which include freezing Mmobuosi’s assets, and prohibiting TIH, Agri-Fintech and Tingo Group from transferring money or property or issuing shares to Mmobuosi.
