January 03, (THEWILL) – The U.S. Attorney’s Office has unsealed an indictment charging Nigerian businessman, Dozy Mmobuosi, with securities fraud.
He is charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of securities fraud, and one count of making false filings with the SEC.
If convicted on all charges, Mmobuosi risks serving a maximum sentence of 45 years.
Mmobuosi, 45, the founder of Tingo Group, an African agri-fintech enterprise and the parent organisation of Tingo Mobile Plc, had proposed an IPO and a $500-million capital round in 2022.
U.S. Attorney, Damian Williams, declared, “Mmobuosi allegedly orchestrated a massive scheme to inflate Tingo Group’s financial statements, presenting his companies as profitable and cash-rich when, in fact, they were not. With this indictment, Mmobuosi’s alleged deceitful scheme comes to an end.”
The indictment follows legal action by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Mmobuosi and his companies — Tingo Group, Agri-Fintech Holdings, and Tingo International Holdings — for allegedly leading a “massive fraud” scheme.
The SEC’s complaint, filed on Dec. 18, 2023, accused Mmobuosi of inflating financial figures and fabricating statements since 2019, engaging in billions of dollars’ worth of fictitious transactions. It also unveiled a “staggering” scope of fraud, leading to the suspension of trading in Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech Holdings just a month ago. This suspension was prompted by concerns regarding the accuracy and adequacy of publicly available information.
In June 2023, Hindenburg Research declared a short position in Tingo Group, causing shares to plummet by over 60 percent. The short seller accused Tingo of falsifying financials and questioned Mmobuosi’s claims of developing “Nigeria’s first mobile payment app.” Tingo Group, founded nearly two decades ago, came under scrutiny following Hindenburg’s report labelling it an “exceptionally obvious scam.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment unsealed in Manhattan Federal court and court filings: “From at least in or about 2019 through in or about 2023, ODOGWU BANYE MMOBUOSI orchestrated a scheme to enrich himself by falsely representing that Nigerian companies he founded, Tingo Mobile and Tingo Foods, were operational, profitable businesses generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue respectively. MMOBUOSI then sold Tingo Mobile and Tingo Foods to companies listed in the United States, including Tingo Group (listed on Nasdaq as “TIO”) and Agri-Fintech Holdings (traded in the Over-the-Counter Markets under the symbol “TMNA”). As a result, MMOBUOSI caused Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech to issue financial statements that falsely portrayed Tingo Mobile and Tingo Foods to be cash-rich, revenue-generating companies when, in fact, they were not. MMOBUOSI then looted Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech by misappropriating cash from those companies and engaged in well-timed sales of their shares at inflated prices, generating millions of dollars of profits from his scheme”.
FBI Assistant Director in Charge, James Smith, said: “Mmobuosi’s alleged fraud is an unseemly display of greed and corruption of our financial markets. Securities schemes like this can be devastating for victim investors. That’s why the FBI is committed to bringing financial fraud to light and perpetrators like Mmobuosi to justice.”
