Nigerian entrepreneur Dozy Mmobuosi will pay more than $250 million in fines following a fraud case brought against him along with three of his companies by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The recent ruling from the US federal court signifies a significant decline for the previously prominent fintech executive.
LEADERSHIP recalls that Dozy gained widespread attention last year for his bold endeavor to purchase Sheffield United, a renowned English football club.
Judge Jesse M. Furman of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York delivered the final judgment against Mmobuosi and his companies, including two Nasdaq-listed entities, Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech Holdings, as well as Tingo International Holdings.
The court found that Mmobuosi and his firms had "failed to answer, plead, or otherwise defend" themselves in response to the civil complaint filed by the SEC last December.
The SEC's complaint accused Mmobuosi of orchestrating a large-scale fraud by inflating the financial performance metrics of his companies to mislead investors worldwide.
The commission alleged that Mmobuosi's business empire, which claimed to operate in the fintech and agricultural technology sectors, was essentially a "fiction."
The complaint further stated that the purported assets, revenues, expenses, customers, and suppliers of Mmobuosi's companies were "virtually entirely fabricated."
Tingo Group, a fintech entity under Mmobuosi's control, had claimed a customer base exceeding nine million Nigerian farmers and touted a robust food processing operation.
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However, the SEC's investigation revealed that these claims were grossly exaggerated.
In one striking example, Tingo Mobile, a subsidiary of Tingo Group, reported cash and cash equivalents of $461.7 million for 2022 in its Nigerian bank accounts.
The SEC, however, found the actual balance to be less than $50, underscoring the extent of the misrepresentation.
Mmobuosi's companies came under intense scrutiny last year after Hindenburg Research, a US-based short-seller, published a report calling Tingo Group an "extremely clear scam."
The report caused Tingo's stock price to plummet by more than 60 percent on the day of its release and raised serious questions about the legitimacy of Mmobuosi's operations.
The SEC's charges against Mmobuosi and his companies were filed shortly after the agency suspended trading in the shares of Nasdaq-listed Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech Holdings.
The SEC mentioned "uncertainties and doubts about the sufficiency and precision of publicly accessible information" as the reason for the trading halt, which continues to undermine investor trust in the companies.
