Tingo Group is a holding company that claims to operate primarily in Nigeria in multiple business segments, including (food processing and sales, mobile handset sales & leasing and an online food marketplace called “Nwassa”.
The company has a fully diluted market capitalization of ~$1.5 billion as of this writing, with a recent peak market value of $3 billion as of May 22nd, 2023.
The company first went public in August 2021 on the OTC market through a reverse merger with a Thai company that originally intended to acquire a third-tier crypto exchange.
In December 2022, the company entered the Nasdaq by closing another reverse merger with a listed Chinese fintech company.
The company was renamed Tingo Group Inc and the ticker changed from MICT to TIO on February 27, 2023.
Tingo was founded in 2001 in Nigeria by “Dozy” Mmobuosi, who currently serves as the CEO of Tingo Group Holdings, the group’s key holding company entity. He has gained international attention, gracing the cover of GQ Africa in December 2022.
Regularly described by media as a billionaire, Dozy made further waves in February 2023 when he attempted to buy Sheffield United, an English football team recently promoted to the Premier league. The deal stalled over questions about whether Dozy’s financial resources were genuine.
Part I: Red Flags In Dozy’s Background
Tingo Group Holdings CEO “Dozy” Mmobuosi Appears To Have Fabricated His Biographical Claim To Have Developed The First Mobile Payment App In Nigeria
We Contacted The Actual Creator Of The App Who Called Dozy’s Claim “A Pure Lie”. Despite his claims to be a successful billionaire entrepreneur, we found numerous red flags related to Dozy.
In a May 2020 interview, Dozy told a detailed origin story of what would later serve as a key biographical claim; how, in 2002, he developed the first mobile payment platform in Nigeria. Per the story, he partnered with a bank on the venture after he couldn’t find an easy way to send money to his brother.
At the end of the interview, Dozy claimed he could not mention the product or the bank due to confidentiality reasons:
“Understandably, I can’t mention the product or the bank in question for the sake of confidentiality.”
The lack of disclosure of the mere name of a company built and sold over 15 years ago runs contrary to the norm for essentially every other successful startup founder’s story.
Regardless, his reticence to disclose the name of the app seems to have gone away. The Tingo website now claims Dozy helped launch Nigeria’s first SMS banking solution called “Flashmecash”.
Per the website:
“In 2002 he (Dozy) led the design and launch of Nigeria’s first SMS Banking Solution (Flashmecash), later sold to FMCB who still use it today.”
We reached out to Flashmecash’s actual creator, Deji Oguntonade, whom we verified as the inventor via check of Flashmecash’s patent, along with web searches. He informed us that Dozy’s claims were “totally false” and shared a WhatsApp post he wrote to Nigeria’s top fintechs and regulators making clear that Dozy’s claims were a “pure lie”.
The post provided a detailed background on the app, which Oguntonade reiterated had no connection to Dozy.
Dozy Claimed To Have Received a PhD In Rural Advancement From Malaysian University UPM In 2007
We Contacted UPM To Verify The Degree. They Wrote Back Saying No One By His Name Was Found In Their Verification System.
In his Tingo biography, Dozy claimed to have received a PhD in Rural Advancement from Malaysian university UPM in 2007. We contacted the school to confirm this credential. An administrator in the graduate studies department confirmed that the database has records from 2007 and earlier, but that Dozy’s name, including several variations we tried were “not found for verification”.
In 2017, Dozy Was Arrested And Faced An 8-Count Indictment Over Issuance Of Bad Checks, According To The Nigerian Economic And Financial Crimes Commission
In 2017, Dozy was arrested in Nigeria and faced 8 charges including conspiracy, obtaining by false pretense and issuance of approximately U.S. $70,000 in bad checks, according to the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The case was later settled in arbitration, according to local media and company filings.
In 2019, Dozy Claimed To Launch “Tingo Airlines” And Posted Social Media Messages Encouraging Customers To “Fly With Tingo Airlines Today”
Media Outlets Uncovered That Tingo Had Photoshopped Its Logo On Pictures Of Airplanes. Dozy Later Admitted To Never Owning Any Actual Aircraft
In August 2019, Dozy launched Tingo Airlines, which declared share capital of £1 billion, according to UK company records.
Per reporting by The Athletic, November 2020 Facebook messages urged customers to “fly with Tingo Airlines today”.
The company also had an Instagram page where it posted photoshopped pictures of planes with a Tingo logo on them. The page was removed after observers noticed that the planes had too many windows and were missing a door, owing to a poor photoshop job.
In 2019, Dozy Claimed To Launch “Tingo Airlines” And Posted Social Media Messages Encouraging Customers To “Fly With Tingo Airlines Today”
Media Outlets Uncovered That Tingo Had Photoshopped Its Logo On Pictures Of Airplanes. Dozy Later Admitted To Never Owning Any Actual Aircraft
In August 2019, Dozy launched Tingo Airlines, which declared share capital of £1 billion, according to UK company records.
Per reporting by The Athletic, November 2020 Facebook messages urged customers to “fly with Tingo Airlines today”.
The company also had an Instagram page where it posted photoshopped pictures of planes with a Tingo logo on them. The page was removed after observers noticed that the planes had too many windows and were missing a door, owing to a poor photoshop job.
In April 2023, Tingo’s Co-Chairman Wrote A Public Letter To Dozy, Filed With The SEC, Saying He Could Not Approve The Company’s Annual Report And Felt It “Necessary To Recuse Myself By Resigning” Due To “Many Critical Questions, Comments And Recommendations” That Went “Unanswered And Unheeded.”
In September 2021, Christophe Charlier was named co-Chairman of Tingo Inc., tweeting at the time that he was “excited” to work toward “transforming rural farming communities.”
However, less than 2 years later, in April 2023, Charlier resigned suddenly, stating in a letter addressed to Dozy and filed with the SEC:
“I have made numerous efforts to implement best corporate governance practices. Despite my efforts, many critical questions, comments and recommendations which I have sent to management and the Board have once again remained unanswered and unheeded. As a result, I will not be in a position to approve the 10K for 2022 prepared by management and feel it necessary to recuse myself by resigning from the Board”
To Be Continued…
