Tingo Group Shares Plunge 50% After Hindenburg Research Alleges Financial Fraud

Shares of Tingo Group, a global fintech and agri-fintech company, plunged more than 50% on Tuesday after a report by short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged that the company is a “worthless and brazen fraud.”

The report, which was published on Hindenburg’s website, made a number of allegations against Tingo, including that:

• The company’s founder, Dozy Mmobuosi, fabricated his biographical claims, including that he developed the first mobile payment app in Nigeria, Flashmecash. The app’s actual creator, Deji Oguntonade, called Mmuobuosi’s claims a “pure lie”
• Mmobuosi does not have a PhD in rural advancement from a Malaysian university, as he claimed.
• Mmobuosi was arrested in 2017 on charges of issuing bad checks.
• Tingo’s food division, which is just 7 months old, claimed to have generated $577.2 million in revenue last quarter, but it has no food processing facility of its own.
• Tingo claimed that its mobile handset leasing, call, and data segments generated $128 million in revenue last quarter, but the Nigerian Communications Commission has no record of the company being a mobile licensee.
• Tingo claimed that its “seed to sale” online marketplace called NWASSA generated $125.3 million in revenue last quarter, but the website has been “under maintenance” and inoperable for months.
• that in 2019, Dozy claimed to have launched “Tingo Airlines” and posted social media messages encouraging customers to “fly with Tingo Airlines today”. Media outlets later uncovered that Tingo had photoshopped its logo onto pictures of airplanes. Dozy later admitted to never owning any actual aircraft.

Hindenburg Research also alleged that Tingo is a “pump-and-dump” scheme, in which the company’s insiders artificially inflate the stock price by making false and misleading statements to investors.

In a statement, Tingo denied all of the allegations in the Hindenburg report, calling it “false, misleading, and defamatory.” The company said that it is “committed to the highest standards of corporate governance and financial reporting” and that it will “vigorously defend itself against these baseless allegations.”

The allegations against Tingo come at a time when the company is facing increasing scrutiny from regulators. In April, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subpoenaed Tingo for documents related to its business practices.

The SEC’s investigation is ongoing, and it is unclear what the outcome will be. However, the Hindenburg report has raised serious questions about Tingo’s business practices and its financial statements. These questions could lead to further scrutiny from regulators and could damage the company’s reputation.

Tingo is a relatively young company, and it has not yet generated significant revenue. The company’s stock price has been volatile in recent months, and it is currently trading at about half of its IPO price.

The allegations against Tingo could have a significant impact on the company’s future. If the company is found to have engaged in fraud, it could face criminal charges and civil penalties. The company could also be delisted from the stock exchange, which would make it difficult for it to raise capital.

The allegations against Tingo are a reminder of the risks associated with investing in young, unproven companies. Investors should carefully review the information available about a company before investing, and they should be aware of the potential for fraud.