The Securities Exchange Commission today
The scheme was perpetrated since at least 2019 by Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye, also known as Dozy Mmobuosi, and three related U.S. companies Mmobuosi controlled called the Tingo entities. The SEC's
Oyebola allegedly then made material misstatements to the then-auditor of one of the Tingo entities and helped conceal that the audit reports were fake. Oyebola and his firm's assistance enabled the continuation of the multiyear scheme to inflate financial performance metrics and defraud investors.
The SEC
"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," Antonia Apps, director of the SEC's New York Regional Office, said in a statement. "We will not hesitate to hold gatekeepers to the public markets accountable when they facilitate fiction rather than truth."
The SEC's complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It charges Oyebola and his firm with aiding and abetting violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws by Mmobuosi and the Tingo entities. The commission also charged him with aiding and abetting Mmobuosi's violation of lying to auditors.
The complaint seeks civil penalties and permanent injunctive relief, which includes permanently barring Oyebola and his firm from practicing as auditors or accountants for U.S. public companies or from assisting in the preparation of financial statements filed with the SEC.
