Malawi revokes diplomatic passport of nigerian fraudster
Ezekiel Ching’oma, Minister of Homeland Security, confirmed that the government has already forwarded the notification about the revocation of Mmobuosi’s Malawian passport to him and relevant border authorities.
Mmobuosi, who is currently serving a fraud conviction in the United States, had previously pledged to build 1,000 houses for the Cyclone Freddy-hit Phalombe on the Tigwirane Manja Housing Project.
Separately, Mmobuosi, who is Tingo Group’s chief executive officer, was ordered in a U.S. court to pay fines topping $250 million over a case of fraud against himself and three of his firms brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The ruling from the federal court represents a stunning fall from grace for the former fintech darling, who last year drew headlines for his plans to buy Sheffield United, an English soccer club.
The final verdict against Mmobuosi and his companies — two of which are publicly traded, Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech Holdings, as well as Tingo International Holdings — was issued by Judge Jesse M. Furman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The court ruled that Mmobuosi and his companies had “failed to answer, plead, or otherwise defend” from the civil complaint that the SEC had filed back in December of the previous year.
Core Issues
The SEC’s complaint accused Mmobuosi of directing a large piece of fraud, as he fraudulently inflated the financial performance metrics of his companies with the intent of defrauding global investors.
The commission claimed that Mmobuosi’s commercial ventures — which the company said operated in the fintech and agricultural technology industries — amounted to a “fiction.”
The declared assets, revenues, expenses, customers and suppliers associated with Mmobuosi’s companies were “virtually wholly fabricated,” the complaint said.
Conference organisers with links to Mmobuosi had previously cited his fintech venture, Tingo Group, as boasting more than nine million Nigerian farmers as customers, and also claimed to oversee a large-scale food processing operation.
The SEC’s investigation, however, found these claims to be grossly overstated.
And, for example, Tingo Mobile — which is a subsidiary of Tingo Group — purported to have cash and cash equivalents of $461.7 million already in Nigerian bank accounts in 2022.
But the SEC found that the real number was less than $50 — illustrating just how far Tasman was willing to go to mislead investors.
Hindenburg Research Investigation
Mmobuosi’s companies were subject to renewed scrutiny last year after a report from a U.S.-based short-selling organisation, Hindenburg Research, called Tingo Group an “exceptionally obvious scam.”
The report sparked a fall of over 60 percent in the price of Tingo’s stock on the day it was published and raised strong questions about the validity of Mmobuosi’s business activities.
Following publication of the report, the SEC rushed to bring charges against Mmobuosi and his companies, soon after halting trading in shares of the Nasdaq-listed Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech Holdings.
The SEC cited “questions and concerns regarding the adequacy and accuracy of publicly available information” for the trading suspension, further undermining investor confidence in these companies.
Key Takeaways
Mmobuosi’s meteoric rise to prominence, then just as meteoric a tumble, has been remarkable. There’s a good chance he has, especially when he made headlines with his attempt to buy Sheffield United, a club that has competed in the English Premier League but has since dropped down a level.
The failed acquisition attempt, while unsuccessful, was part of Mmobuosi’s wider plan to establish himself as a player in global business.
The court’s decision inflicts significant financial penalties on Mmobuosi and bars him from serving as a director of any public company, effectively bringing to an end his corporate career.
This ruling is a formidable reminder of the severe penalties related to financial malfeasance and the intensive oversight imposed by regulatory authorities such as the SEC to safeguard investors and uphold the legitimacy of capital markets.
