Tingo Group, the Nigerian-based agri tech company which came under fire following allegations of fraudulent dealings detailed in a report by Hindenburg Research, an activist investor, has denied any wrong.
In a public statement released on Tuesday, the company said the report by Hindenburg only represents the opinion of the activist investor, designed to benefit a short position taken by them and their associates from which they stand to realise sizeable gains.
“The report, which contains numerous errors of fact, together with misleading and libellous content, appears to be a deliberate attempt to undermine the positive work that Tingo Group is undertaking across various worldwide markets,” the company noted.
The statement which is silent on many of the allegations levelled particularly at the founder and CEO of the company, Dozy Mmobuosi, refuted the claim that its accounting records were not accurate. According to Tingo Group, not only are the accounting records accurate and correct, the financial results are accurately reported within its financial statements and its SEC filings. This, the statement said, is evidenced by the faith demonstrated by the investor community in Tingo Group on the basis of detailed analysis and reports prepared by professional advisors, financial experts and credit rating agencies.
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The shares of the company plummeted by 82.85 percent to close at $0.06 on Tuesday after the Hindenburg Research report was released to the public. As of the time of writing on Wednesday, the shares have gained 8.84 percent to settle at $0.07.
Hindenburg published its findings from an investigation it conducted on the company and which showed many alleged fraud activities and alleged omissions that were deliberately perpetrated made to deceive the investing public.
A Tingo representative in Nigeria who spoke to BusinessDay said a lot of the allegations made in the Hindenburg report were half-truths and an attempt to taint the image of the founder.
“Tingo Group will respond in detail to the allegations made by Hindenburg Research in due course, but for the avoidance of doubt, the company believes the report published today is a deliberate attempt to damage its reputation maliciously and unlawfully through the issuance of false, misinformed and distorted information for Hindenburg Research’s own financial gain and at the expense of the company’s shareholders,” the company noted in the statement.
