Nigerian businessman Dozy Mmobuosi has been ordered by a U.S. federal court to pay over $250 million in fines and has been barred from serving as a director of a public company. This ruling, delivered by Judge Jesse M. Furman, stems from charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the previous year. Mmobuosi and three of his companies, including two listed on the Nasdaq, were accused of fraudulently inflating the financial performance metrics of his companies and key subsidiaries to deceive investors globally.
The SEC’s statement highlighted that Mmobuosi and his entities made significant misrepresentations about their business operations and financial success in various press releases, SEC filings, and other public communications. A particularly glaring example was the group’s fiscal year 2022 Form 10-K, filed in March 2023, which reported a cash and cash equivalent balance of $461.7 million in its subsidiary Tingo Mobile’s Nigerian bank accounts. In reality, these accounts held less than $50 at the close of the 2022 fiscal year.
Tingo Group, based in New Jersey, operates across Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The company claimed to have millions of customers in Nigeria, predominantly farmers, and also stated it operated a food processing business. However, the SEC accused Tingo of grossly exaggerating its assets, revenue, expenses, and customer base, describing the fraud as extensive.
Tingo Group did not defend itself in court against these charges, leading the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to enter a default judgment against Mmobuosi and his companies.
Tingo Group’s Nasdaq Delisting
This case is not Mmobuosi’s first brush with controversy. Earlier allegations surfaced when Hindenburg Research, a short-selling firm known for forensic financial analysis, accused Tingo of fabricating its financials, calling the fintech firm an “exceptionally obvious scam.”
On November 13, 2023, Tingo Group announced that it had been notified by Nasdaq of non-compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2), which requires a minimum bid price of $1.00 for 30 consecutive business days. Facing multiple non-compliance issues, Tingo opted to voluntarily delist from Nasdaq.
Despite these challenges, Mmobuosi reportedly continued to live a lavish lifestyle, allegedly siphoning at least $16 million from Tingo Group. He is known for traveling on private jets, owning a fleet of luxury vehicles, and once attempting to purchase Sheffield United, an English football club.
