US SEC charges Tingo auditor Olayinka Oyebola over alleged role in fraudulent scheme

Joy Agwunobi

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against Nigerian accountant Olayinka Oyebola and his firm, Olayinka Oyebola & Co., accusing them of facilitating securities fraud allegedly committed by Dozy Mmobuosi, CEO of Tingo Group.

The charges, which were brought before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claim that Oyebola and his firm aided Mmobuosi and several Tingo entities in violating federal securities laws, specifically relating to fraud and misinformation.

The SEC asserts that Oyebola’s firm helped Mmobuosi falsify financial reports, including inflating the financial performance of Tingo Group’s subsidiaries. Oyebola is also accused of assisting Mmobuosi in lying to auditors, further enabling the fraudulent activity.

The Commission is pushing for civil penalties and permanent injunctive relief, which could include barring Oyebola and his firm from acting as auditors for U.S. public companies and from assisting in the preparation of financial statements for SEC filings.

Antonia M. Apps, director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office, condemned Oyebola’s actions, stating that the accountant and his firm betrayed public trust by engaging in the alleged fraud.

She stated, “As alleged, Oyebola and his firm violated the public trust and abdicated their responsibilities as public company accountants and auditors by helping Mmobuosi and the Tingo entities effectuate and conceal their fraud. We will not hesitate to hold gatekeepers to the public markets accountable when they facilitate fiction rather than truth.”

The backdrop to this case includes a $250 million judgment secured by the SEC in September against Mmobuosi and Tingo entities for previous fraudulent actions.

 In 2023, the SEC charged Mmobuosi and three companies under his control, two of which were listed on Nasdaq—with fabricating financial data to deceive investors.

Judge Jesse M. Furman the U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York delivered the final ruling against Mmobuosi and his companies, which included the Nasdaq-listed Tingo Group and Agri-Fintech Holdings, as well as Tingo International Holdings.

The SEC’s complaint accused Mmobuosi of orchestrating a large-scale fraud, alleging that he inflated the financial performance metrics of his businesses to mislead investors worldwide.

According to the SEC, Mmobuosi’s companies, which claimed to operate in fintech and agricultural technology sectors, were essentially “a fiction.”

The complaint further detailed that nearly all of the assets, revenues, expenses, customers, and suppliers purported by Mmobuosi’s companies were “virtually entirely fabricated.”