Forty contractors who worked for Tingo Mobile, a fintech startup facing fraud charges in the US, have been laid off despite not being paid their salaries in December and January, three of the affected employees told TechCabal.
The affected contractors, who supported new users with onboarding and resolved issues on TingoPay, a digital payments app, were laid off on a call with Tingo Mobile and HR Indexx (HRI) in the first week of February 2024.
HR Indexx blamed the non-payment of salaries (N100,000 net monthly) on Tingo, according to messages seen by TechCabal.
“Given the substantial amount involved, totaling in millions, HRI currently does not have the funds readily available to cover the salaries while awaiting payment from Tingo Mobile,” a message from HR Indexx read.
HR Indexx did not immediately respond to TechCabal’s request for comments.
When the contractors turned to Tingo Mobile for an explanation, they were redirected to the outsourcing company. “HR Indexx has disabled comments in the WhatsApp group where we coordinate our activities so that we will no longer complain about the money,” an employee said.
Tingo Mobile did not immediately respond to an email from TechCabal requesting comments.
“On the layoff call, [HRI] said we should go and learn other skills and start applying for other jobs,” said another affected employee.
In December, the US Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Tingo Group fabricated its financial statements and misled investors.
Tingo Mobile is one of the subsidiaries of Tingo Group, the company and was the subject of an explosive report published by Hindenburg Group, the famous American short seller. The SEC formally launched an investigation into Tingo Group and suspended trading in the shares of the second subsidiary, Tingo Foods PLC.
