The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has
said Tingo Group Inc. lied about having $461.7m in its subsidiary Tingo
Mobile’s Nigerian bank accounts when it only had $50 in claimed accounts.
The U.S. SEC announced this on Monday when it announced
charges against the Mmobuosi Banye also known as Dozy Mmobuosi and three
affiliated US-based entities of which he is the Chief Executive Officer — Tingo
Group Inc., Agri-Fintech Holdings Inc., and Tingo International Holdings Inc.
According to the commission, Mmobuosi is being charged in
connection with an alleged multi-year scheme to inflate the financial
performance metrics of his companies and key operating subsidiaries to defraud
investors worldwide.
SEC noted that it is seeking emergency relief to prevent the
defendants’ continued dissemination of materially false information to
investors and to protect corporate and investor assets.
According to the charges, “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.”
According to SEC, its case is filed in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of New York, and the four defendants are being
charged with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities
laws.
The commission added that Mmobuosi was being charged 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.
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