TRACKNEWS ONLINE | INVESTIGATIVE DESK
A fresh wave of allegations has emerged against Nigerian businessman Dozy Mmobuosi, founder of Tingo Mobile, after shareholders of Tingo Group accused him of fabricating bank statements, financial records and business transactions to create the impression that his company was worth billions of dollars.
In a 97-page complaint filed before a federal court in New Jersey, United States, and obtained by TrackNews, the shareholders alleged that Tingo Mobile’s actual bank balance in Nigeria was dramatically different from the figures presented to its auditors.
According to the complaint, the company’s primary bank account opened 2021 with just ₦50,000 and closed the year with less than ₦1.6 million.
However, documents allegedly presented to the company’s auditors showed an opening balance of ₦11 billion and a closing balance exceeding ₦53 billion.
The shareholders described the discrepancies as evidence of an elaborate financial deception allegedly designed to mislead auditors, investors and the financial markets.
$489M FIXED-DEPOSIT ACCOUNT ALLEGEDLY NEVER EXISTED
The complaint further alleges that auditors were presented with fixed-deposit statements showing an account balance of $24,096,933.50 in January 2022, which supposedly increased to $489,000,246.56 by March 2023.
However, when the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subpoenaed the bank’s actual records, investigators allegedly discovered that the account did not exist.
“There is not, and has never been” such an account, the complaint reportedly stated, citing the subpoenaed banking records.
The shareholders further alleged that a fictitious general ledger and fabricated invoices were created to support the questionable financial statements.
OVER $26M ALLEGEDLY DIVERTED FROM COMPANY TRANSACTIONS
The lawsuit also raises questions about millions of dollars allegedly diverted from the company’s business operations.
According to the complaint, more than $10 million obtained through a handset financing arrangement with British telecommunications company Bullitt was allegedly routed through an attorney’s trust account.
The filing claims Bullitt never received the money.
Another $16 million was allegedly transferred into personal accounts.
The shareholders further alleged that company funds were used to finance luxury vehicles, private jet travel, an expensive gala at a five-star London ballroom and activities connected to Mmobuosi’s unsuccessful attempt to acquire Sheffield United Football Club.
SHARE SALES WORTH HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
The complaint also accuses Mmobuosi of moving and selling substantial quantities of company shares before the alleged financial irregularities became public.
It claims that more than 10 million Agri-Fintech shares were transferred through a Swiss bank account and sold for over $2 million, allegedly without the required insider-trading disclosures.
Overall, the shareholders claim that at least 115 million Agri-Fintech shares were sold or transferred from early 2022, with an estimated value of approximately $226 million.
The filing further alleges that 12 million Tingo Group shares were sold in October and November 2023 for approximately $10.4 million.
$577M REVENUE CLAIM FROM TINGO FOODS QUESTIONED
Another major issue raised in the complaint concerns Tingo Foods, a Nigerian food-processing company founded by Mmobuosi in September 2022 and reportedly sold to Tingo five months later through a $204 million promissory note carrying five per cent annual interest.
The shareholders allege that Tingo Foods reported an extraordinary $577.2 million in revenue and $143.5 million in profit within a 50-day period.
The complaint also questions the company’s presentation of a proposed $1.6 billion food-processing facility in Delta State.
According to the filing, the glossy images used to promote the project allegedly featured a stock photograph of an oil refinery rather than the actual food-processing facility investors were led to believe existed.
The shareholders also questioned Tingo’s reported $780 million in Nigerian cash holdings, particularly when the company declared only $1.444 million in interest income for the year.
They further alleged that $725 million of the claimed cash holdings disappeared from the company’s financial records within a single quarter.
AUDITORS UNDER SCRUTINY
The complaint also raises questions about the role of external auditors who reviewed the company’s financial statements.
Deloitte’s Israeli arm reportedly received $1.6 million in audit fees for 2022 before resigning in January 2024.
Another auditing firm, Gries and Associates, which reportedly approved a goodwill valuation of approximately $3.6 billion, was subsequently sanctioned by the United States audit watchdog, with one of its partners barred for a year.
The shareholders also claimed that an unnamed company director resigned in April 2023 rather than approve the company’s annual report.
NIGERIA’S ENTIRE PAYMENT SYSTEM ALLEGEDLY GENERATED LESS THAN TINGO’S CLAIMED TRANSACTIONS
Perhaps one of the most striking allegations concerns Tingo Mobile’s NWASSA money-transfer platform.
According to the complaint, Tingo Mobile claimed that its platform processed between $12 billion and $12.7 billion in transactions.
However, the shareholders argued that the figures were difficult to reconcile with Nigeria’s national payment transaction volumes.
They cited figures showing that the entire country processed approximately $10.8 billion during the same period, raising serious questions about how a single platform could allegedly record transactions exceeding the national figure.
SEPARATE CRIMINAL CASE IN THE UNITED STATES
The shareholders’ lawsuit is a civil action and should be distinguished from the separate criminal proceedings involving Mmobuosi.
United States prosecutors have separately charged him in New York over allegations including conspiracy, securities fraud and falsification of records.
The civil complaint seeks to establish the alleged financial losses, questionable transactions and responsibilities of individuals and entities connected to Tingo Group.
The allegations contained in the shareholders’ filing have not, by themselves, been established as judicial findings. The defendants are entitled to respond to the claims through the legal process.
For investors and regulators, however, the case raises serious questions about corporate financial reporting, the reliability of audit processes, the protection of shareholders and the transparency of companies operating across international markets.
TRACKNEWS ONLINE will continue to follow the legal proceedings and emerging developments surrounding the Tingo Group controversy.