US charges ex-fintech CEO who tried to buy Sheffield United with fraud (updated)

Tingo

02/01/2024 21:26

(New throughout, adds details from indictment, defendant's
whereabouts, details on SEC civil lawsuit, case citation)
    By Jonathan Stempel
       NEW YORK, Jan 2 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors in
Manhattan unveiled criminal charges against a Nigerian fintech
businessman who recently bid unsuccessfully for an English
Premier League soccer team, saying he lied to investors about
his companies' finances.
    Odogwu Banye Mmobuosi, 45, the former co-chief executive
officer of Tingo Group  TIO.O , was charged with securities
fraud, making false U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
filings, and conspiracy in an indictment made public on Tuesday.
    Prosecutors said the defendant, known as Dozy Mmobuosi,
falsely represented that his Tingo Mobile cellular business and
Tingo Foods agriculture business were profitable, generating
hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue.
    Mmobuosi sold both businesses to Tingo Group and
Agri-Fintech Holdings  TMNA.PK , caused them to falsely portray
the businesses as "cash-rich, revenue-generating companies," and
looted millions of dollars by misappropriating cash and selling
stock at inflated prices, the indictment said.
    The alleged scheme occurred from 2019 to 2023, prosecutors
said. Mmobuosi is at large. A lawyer for him could not
immediately be identified.
    Tingo Group, based in Montvale, New Jersey, did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
    Mmobuosi temporarily stepped down as Tingo Group's co-CEO on
Dec. 20, two days after the SEC filed civil charges accusing him
of orchestrating a "staggering" fraud.
    The SEC said Mmobuosi siphoned at least $16 million from
Tingo Group. It said he used the money to buy luxury cars and
travel on private jets, and to try to buy the Sheffield United
soccer team when it was in the lower Championship league.
    According to the SEC complaint, Tingo Mobile purports to
supply mobile handsets and related services to farmers in
Nigeria, while Tingo Foods is a purported food processor.
    Tingo Group is a defendant in the SEC case, and has said it
intended to vigorously defend itself.
    The indictment was made public nearly seven months after the
short-seller Hindenburg Research accused Tingo Group of having
"fabricated" its financials, and challenged Mmobuosi's claim to
have developed Nigeria's first mobile payment app.
    The case is U.S. v. Mmobuosi, U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York, No. 23-cr-00601.

 (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker and David Gregorio)
 ((jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6317; Reuters
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))