The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges accusing the Chief Executive Officer of Tingo Mobile, Dozy Mmobuosi, of massive fraud.
Mmobuosi was charged alongside his three affiliated U.S.-based companies, Tingo Group Inc., Agri-Fintech Holdings Inc., and Tingo International Holdings Inc.
According to a December 18 filing by the SEC, the charge was in connection with an alleged multi-year scheme to inflate the financial performance metrics of these companies and key operating subsidiaries to defraud investors worldwide.
The SEC is seeking emergency relief to prevent Defendants’ continued dissemination of materially false information to investors and to protect corporate and investor assets.
The allegations
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.
The complaint further 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 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 SEC’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges all four Defendants with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws and additionally charges Nasdaq-listed Tingo Group, OTC-traded Agri-Fintech, and Mmobuosi with reporting, books and records, and internal controls violations.
It also charges Mmobuosi with lying to auditors, insider trading, and failing to file Forms 4 disclosing the sales of millions of Agri-Fintech common stock for which he was the ultimate beneficial owner. The complaint seeks permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and the return, under Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, of bonuses and profits obtained by Mmobuosi from sales of Tingo Group or Agri-Fintech stock. The complaint also seeks an order prohibiting Mmobuosi from acting as an officer or director of a public company or from participating in the offering of any penny stock.
Orders being sought
As part of the SEC’s emergency application, the SEC seeks an order to show cause and other temporary and preliminary relief against Defendants, including a temporary restraining order:
The SEC’s ongoing investigation is being conducted by Michael DiBattista, Christopher Mele, David Zetlin-Jones, Jeremy Brandt, Stephen Johnson, Elizabeth Baier, Gerald Gross, and Rebecca Reilly under the supervision of Tejal D. Shah, all of the SEC’s New York Regional Office.
The litigation is being led by Mr. Zetlin-Jones, Mr. DiBattista, and Mr. Brandt. The SEC appreciates the assistance of Nasdaq’s Enforcement Department.
