A Nigerian fintech executive, Dozy Mmobuosi, has been fined over $250 million by a US federal court after being accused of fabricating the financial performance of his companies.
The court barred Mmobuosi from serving as a director of any public company.
The judgment follows a civil complaint filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission last December.
The SEC accused Mmobuosi and his three companies—Tingo Group, Agri-Fintech Holdings, and Tingo International Holdings—of inflating financial metrics to deceive investors globally.
The court ruled against Mmobuosi and his companies after they failed to respond to the complaint.
The SEC’s investigation revealed that Mmobuosi’s fintech group, Tingo, which claimed to have over 9 million customers in Nigeria, had largely fabricated its assets, revenues, and customer base. Tingo Mobile, for instance, reported $461.7 million in cash for 2022, but SEC found its balance was less than $50.
Last year, Hindenburg Research, a US-based short-seller, also raised concerns about Tingo’s operations, calling it an “exceptionally obvious scam.” This led to a significant drop in the company’s stock price.
The SEC halted trading in shares of Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech Holdings in 2023, citing inaccuracies in publicly available information.
The entrepreneur had made headlines the same year with his attempt to buy Sheffield United, a football club in England.
