The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Olayinka Oyebola and his Public Company Accounting Oversight Board-registered accounting firm, Olayinka Oyebola & Co. (Chartered Accountants), with aiding and abetting a massive securities fraud perpetrated by Mmobuosi Odogwu Banye, also known as Dozy Mmobuosi, and three related U.S. companies that Mmobuosi controlled (the Tingo entities). The SEC recently obtained a $250 million final judgment against Mmobuosi and the Tingo entities.
The SEC’s complaint alleges that Oyebola and his firm deliberately failed to take action upon learning that businessman Mmobuosi and the Tingo entities created multiple fake audit reports bearing Oyebola’s signature and included them in SEC filings as though they were issued by Oyebola’s firm. Oyebola allegedly made material misstatements to the then-auditor of one of the Tingo entities, and Oyebola and the firm helped Mmobuosi conceal that the audit reports were fake, resulting in the auditor, investors, and regulators relying upon the misstatements and fake audit reports to their detriment. According to the SEC’s complaint, Oyebola and his firm’s assistance enabled Mmobuosi and the Tingo entities to carry out a multi-year scheme to inflate financial performance metrics and defraud investors worldwide.
“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,” said Antonia M. Apps, Director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office. “We will not hesitate to hold gatekeepers to the public markets accountable when they facilitate fiction rather than truth.”
The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges Oyebola and his firm with aiding and abetting violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws by Mmobuosi and the three Tingo entities. The SEC also charged Oyebola with aiding and abetting Mmobuosi’s violation of lying to auditors. The complaint seeks civil penalties as well as permanent injunctive relief, including an order permanently barring Oyebola and his firm from acting as auditors or accountants for U.S. public companies or otherwise providing substantial assistance in the preparation of financial statements filed with the SEC.
The SEC’s ongoing investigation is being conducted by Michael DiBattista, Christopher Mele, Jeremy Brandt, Gerald Gross, and Rebecca Reilly under the supervision of Tejal D. Shah. It is being litigated by David Zetlin-Jones and Mr. DiBattista under the supervision of Alexander Vasilescu, all of the New York Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the Israel Securities Authority.
