A former chief executive officer of Tingo Group, Odogwu Banye Mmobuosi, a.k.a. “Dozy Mmobuosi”, has been charged with fraud by U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan.
The prosecutors have charged the 45-year-old with fraud, conspiracy, and forgery by falsifying documents and deceiving investors with false US Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, and James Smith, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced Mmbuosi’s indictment on Tuesday.
Damian Williams said: “Dozy Mmobuosi allegedly orchestrated a massive scheme to inflate Tingo Group’s financial statements and make it appear as though the cellular and agriculture companies he founded were profitable and cash-rich companies when, in fact, they were not. With this indictment, Mmobuosi’s alleged deceitful scheme comes to an end.”
Mmbuosi had unsuccessfully tried to buy Premier League side Sheffield United.
The prosecutors also stated that Mmbuosi, through 2019–2023, “orchestrated a scheme to enrich himself by falsely representing that Nigerian companies he founded, Tingo Mobile and Tingo Foods, were operational, profitable businesses generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, respectively.”
The three-count charge against Mmbuosi carries different sentences; with one count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, one count of securities fraud under Title 15, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of making false filings with the SEC, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The prosecutors stated that Mmbuosi is still at large.
