Nigerian entrepreneur Dozy Mmobuosi has been fined over $250 million by a US court following a fraud case involving him and three of his companies.
The Securities and Exchange Commission brought the case against Mmobuosi, leading to a major financial penalty.
Judge Jesse M. Furman of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York announced the judgment against Mmobuosi and his companies, including Tingo Group, Agri-Fintech Holdings, and Tingo International Holdings.
The court found that Mmobuosi and his companies “failed to answer, plead, or otherwise defend” themselves in response to the SEC’s civil complaint filed last December. The SEC accused Mmobuosi of committing large-scale fraud by inflating his companies’ financial performance to deceive investors worldwide.
The SEC claimed that Mmobuosi’s business empire, which was supposed to operate in fintech and agricultural technology, was essentially a “fiction.” The complaint alleged that the assets, revenues, expenses, customers, and suppliers of Mmobuosi’s companies were “virtually entirely fabricated.”
One major example was Tingo Mobile, a subsidiary of Tingo Group, which reported having $461.7 million in cash for 2022.
However, the SEC found that the actual balance was less than $50, revealing the extent of the misrepresentation.
Mmobuosi’s companies faced intense scrutiny last year after Hindenburg Research, a US-based short-seller, labeled Tingo Group an “extremely clear scam.”
This report caused Tingo’s stock price to drop by more than 60 percent, raising serious concerns about Mmobuosi’s business practices.
The SEC’s charges came after the agency suspended trading in Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech Holdings shares, citing “uncertainties and doubts about the sufficiency and precision of publicly accessible information.”
This ruling marks a significant fall from grace for Mmobuosi, who had gained attention for his attempt to purchase Sheffield United, a famous English football club.
