Tingo Group, Inc. (TIO) Misled Investors Regarding its Business Prospects
A shareholder filed a class action on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Tingo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TIO) securities between December 1, 2022 and June 6, 2023. Tingo purports to be a holding company that operates in the areas of financial technology and agri-fintech through its subsidiaries and entities, both wholly-owned and controlled through variable interest entity (“VIE”) arrangements in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
According to the complaint, during the class period, defendants failed to disclose to investors: (1) that defendant Mmobuosi fabricated biographical claims about himself; (2) that Tingo had photoshopped its logo onto pictures of airplanes it did not own; (3) that Tingo inflated its food division margins; (4) that Tingo published misleading images of its planned Nigerian food processing facility and overstated its progress on the facility’s construction; (5) that Tingo inflated its food inventory; (6) that Tingo did not have relationships with the two farming cooperatives it claimed; (7) that Tingo did not generated $128 million in revenue for its handset leasing, call and data segments as it claimed; (8) that Tingo’s Mobile operation in Nigeria was delinquent on its tax obligations; (9) that Tingo photoshopped its logo over pictures from a different point of sale system operator’s website; (10) that Tingo did not generate $125.3 million in revenue from NWASSA; (11) that Tingo’s agricultural export business was not on track to deliver $1.34 billion in exports by Q3 2023; (12) that Tingo lacked effective controls over accounting and financial reporting; and (13) that, as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
On June 6, 2023, Hindenburg Research published a report titled “Tingo Group: Fake Farmers, Phones, and Financials—The Nigerian Empire That Isn’t.” Therein, Hindenburg disclosed, among other things, that Tingo “is an exceptionally obvious scam with completely fabricated financials” and that the Company had made several false representations about its businesses. On this news, the Company’s stock price fell $1.23, or 48.2%, to close at $1.32 per share on June 6, 2023.
What Now: Similarly situated shareholders may be eligible to participate in the class action against Tingo Group, Inc. Shareholders who want to act as lead plaintiff for the class must file their papers by August 7, 2023. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.
All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses.
