US Charges Nigerian Billionaire As He Speaks From Hiding

Nigerian billionaire Dozy Mmobuosi has been formally charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for alleged fraud.

According to a further report, the FBI charges allege that the Tingo CEO inflated the financial statement of the Group to defraud investors Documents reveal that the Nigerian entrepreneur faces more than 40 years in jail if found guilty.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged Nigerian billionaire and CEO of Tingo Group, Dozy Mmobuosi, with securities fraud, making false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and conspiracy.

Mmobuosi was accused of inflating the company’s financial statements.

The charging document reveals that Dozy Mmobuosi allegedly plotted a massive plan to inflate the Tingo Group’s financials and make it appear as a profitable and cash-rich company when it is not.

BusinessDay reports that the Tingo Group came under fire in 2023 when the SEC accused the Group’s CEO and three other companies he leads of inflating their financial records to defraud investors.

The charges described the scope of the alleged fraud as staggering. The FBI said: “Defendants have booked billions of dollars worth of fictitious transactions through two Nigerian subsidiary companies Mmobuosi founded and controls, reporting hundreds of millions of dollars of non-existent revenues and assets. For example, Tingo Group’s FY 2022 Form 10-K filed in March 2023 reported a cash and cash equivalent balance of $461.7 million in Tingo Mobile’s Nigeria bank accounts.

However, authentic bank records for the same accounts show a balance of less than $50 for that period,” the court document read.