US SEC fines Tingo founder, Dozy Mmobuosi $250m Over Fraud

A US federal court has ordered Dozy Mmobuosi, the chief executive officer of Tingo, to pay more than $250 million in fines and barred him from serving as a director of a public company.

Last year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Mmobuosi and three of his companies, including two Nasdaq-listed enterprises, with fraud for inflating the financial performance of the companies and key operating subsidiaries to defraud investors worldwide.

In December, the SEC revealed that while Tingo Group, in its fiscal year 2022 Form 10-K filed in March 2023, reported a cash and cash equivalent balance of $461.7 million in its subsidiary Tingo Mobile’s Nigerian bank accounts, it only had a combined balance of less than $50 as of the end of the fiscal year 2022.

In a statement revealing the verdict, the SEC said, “The judgments, entered on the basis of default, enjoin Mmobuosi, Tingo Group, Agri-Fintech Holdings, and Tingo International Holdings from violating the anti-fraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder.”

According to the Financial Times, Judge Jesse M Furman of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York entered the final judgment by default against Mmobuosi and his companies since the entrepreneur failed to make any representations in the civil complaint filed by the SEC.

The judge noted that Mmobuosi and his companies, Tingo Group, Agri-Fintech Holdings, and Tingo International Holdings, “failed to answer, plead, or otherwise defend” themselves in the case. The entrepreneur and his three US-based entities were ordered to pay more than $250 million in fines.