[6] In September 2024, a US district court ordered Mmobuosi and his three entities to pay a fine of $250mn as final judgement by default following the SEC civil complaint.

[8] He also claims he received a doctorate degree in rural advancement from University of Putra, Malaysia in 2007,[9] although Hindenburg Research, a short-selling activist group, was not able to verify this in their June 2023 report.

[24] In June 2023, NASDAQ-listed shares in Tingo Group plunged in value after a report from short seller Hindenburg Research said the company was an "exceptionally obvious scam".

"[32] While the SEC suspension of shares expired in late November, Nasdaq chose to keep trading of Tingo securities halted pending a review of provided information.

Meanwhile, Sheffield United's owner Prince Abdullah was seeking legal advice on whether he might have to give Mmobuosi's deposit to US authorities as the proceeds of crime.

[22] In September 2024, a US district court in New York ordered Mmobuosi and his three entities to pay a fine of $250mn as final judgement by default after his defence failed to make any representation or provide documents against the civil complaint filed by the SEC.

[7][44] However, after the verdict, he insisted the SEC had made baseless and outrageous accusations against him and Tingo, aware that the defendants lacked the financial resources to mount a rigorous defence.

He also said the SEC had ignored critical evidence, notably a report from the Nigerian inspector general of police that, Mmobuosi said, verified the legitimacy of Tingo's operations.