Nigerian businessman Dozy Mmobuosi and three of his companies have been ordered by a US federal court to pay over $250 million fine in a fraud case.
The judgement follows an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which uncovered a wide range of financial irregularities within Mmobuosi’s business empire, including the fintech company Tingo Group.
The court’s ruling marks the end of Mmobuosi’s high-profile career in the corporate world.
Dozy Mmobuosi, who once attracted international attention with his attempt to acquire Sheffield United Football Club, was found guilty of inflating the financial performance of his companies to mislead investors.
According to the SEC, his firms, including Tingo Group, Agri-Fintech Holdings, and Tingo International Holdings, fabricated nearly all their reported financial metrics, including assets, revenues, and customer numbers.
One of the most disturbing findings was the revelation that Tingo Mobile, a subsidiary of Tingo Group, claimed to have cash reserves of $461.7 million in Nigerian bank accounts, when in fact, the actual balance was less than $50.
This gross misrepresentation was a key factor in the SEC’s decision to file charges against Mmobuosi and his companies in December 2023.
The court, presided over by Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Southern District of New York, ruled that Mmobuosi and his entities had failed to respond adequately to the charges, leading to a default judgment.
The ruling goes beyond imposing financial penalties and bars Dozy Mmobuosi from holding any directorial position in a public company, effectively ending his involvement in the corporate sector.
The SEC’s investigation was initially prompted by a report from Hindenburg Research, which labelled Tingo Group as a “blatant scam.”
The report, which caused Tingo’s stock to plummet, raised serious problems about the legitimacy of Mmobuosi’s business operations and attracted the attention of US regulators.
Shortly after the report’s publication, the SEC suspended trading in the shares of Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech Holdings, citing doubts about the accuracy of publicly available information.
Despite Mmobuosi’s denials of wrongdoing and claims that the allegations were baseless, the SEC’s findings reveal something different.
The court’s final judgment includes orders for the cancellation of shares held by Mmobuosi and his companies and the disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. The penalties also include a ban on Mmobuosi’s participation in the trading of any securities, further isolating him from the financial markets.
