Talk:Chris Cleverly

Feedback from New Page Review process

I left the following feedback for the creator/future reviewers while reviewing this article: Thanks for creating this article. I have done a bit of a tidy-up.

Paul W (talk) 15:15, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

Tingo

Care is needed in relation to Tingo as it appears Cleverly is only associated with part of the group's activities (specifically, he is a director and president of Tingo Inc - confirmed by the company's website). On 23 July 2023, an anonymous IP editor removed references to a critical report about the Tingo group (diff), saying:

Cleverly is not a director or a shareholder (and has never been) of Tingo Group, Inc which is the subject of the Hindenburg allegations. Tingo Group, Inc. is a separate company and legal entity. To put them together is wrong in law and fact and prosecutable in the UK under malicious publication or falsehood legislation. Also Hinderburg Report and/or Research is not a credible newsource as they are incentivised financially to produce negative press.

I note the editor's veiled threat to prosecute (in breach of Wikipedia:No legal threats). I have edited the Cleverly article to remove two references to Tingo. One was sourced from advertorial published by Forbes, so is not reliable; the second was from a GQ article that made no reference to Cleverly.

Reading various Tingo Inc SEC filings (available here), it appears that Tingo Inc sold its Tingo Mobile operations in December 2022 to 'MICT, Inc.', a Nasdaq-traded financial services company, which changed its corporate name to ‘Tingo Group, Inc.’ and trades under the ticker symbol ‘TIO’. Tingo Inc has since (April 2023) changed its name to 'Agri-Fintech Holdings, Inc.' which retained a 75% shareholding in Tingo Group, Inc (TIO). Agri-Fintech Holdings, Inc is the holding company and majority shareholder of Tingo Group, Inc. I have updated the article accordingly. Paul W (talk) 09:39, 24 July 2023 (UTC)

I note 1 January 2024 edits by an anonymous IP editor which tone down what they claim is "sensational" coverage - in fact, the December 2023 claims of fraud emanate from the US's main financial regulator, and have been covered by reliable sources including the FT and Guardian, hardly sources given to 'sensationalism'.

Also, seemingly to prop up Tingo's reputation, the same IP editor added details of other Tingo entity board members and only partially reported details regarding Deloitte's role as auditor (despite the FT quoting Hindenburg's doubts about Deloitte's procedures).

These recent edits have edit summary comments similar to ones expressed on 23 July 2023 (likely the same person) and may be conflict of interest edits (WP:COI). I have made edits to the article aiming to keep it focused and neutral. It would be helpful if the IP editor could use this article Talk page to discuss any further changes, particularly if they might prove contentious.

Paul W (talk) 18:06, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

Agreed care is needed in relation to Tingo as it appears Cleverly is only associated with part of the group's activities.

1. Removal of edits by Paul W that disclose the date of Cleverly's appointment as director of Tingo being two years after the SEC alleged activities suggest a continuation by Paul W of his very critical editing of this page and lack of neutrality. This is factual and evidenced by Paul W sourced materials and has been re-established.

2. Removal of edits by Paul W related to disclosure of public figure board members prior to Cleverly's appointment at the time of the SEC alleged activities contradict Paul W's contention, namely, either Board membership is relevant to these allegations or not. If not, then his whole section "Tingo" should be removed, if so, then public figures at board level should be disclosed. This is factual and hardly irrelevant.

3. Removal of edits by Paul W of name of the Chairman of the Audit Committee when the media sources used by Paul W express that this is a failure of audit is not as Paul W proposes, irrelevant.

In summary, Paul W's edits are not neutral and are designed to be contentious. 87.200.168.125 (talk) 01:01, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

I have reviewed the latest edits by IP editor 87.200.168.125 (I corrected some punctuation issues and improved some of the citing of sources). I have then also carefully reviewed the IP editor's responses above.

1. I strongly object to the IP editor's two suggestions of a lack of neutrality. Moreover, I have carefully reviewed the sources regarding dates. The assertion that the SEC's allegations predate Cleverly's 2021 appointment appears inaccurate (so I have deleted it). The SEC's November 2023 share suspension related to information released since May 2022 and since February 2023 (I have quoted the SEC concerns in the article); the December 2023 SEC summary and its detailed complaint highlight frauds "since 2019" (my emphasis), highlight concerns about transactions from December 2022 and February 2023, and refer to a March 2023 filing of Form 10-K for fiscal year 2022. These are all dates within Cleverly's term of office as a board member.

2,3. If the IP editor feels that past and current board membership and audit committee membership is relevant, I am content to include these details (per consensus WP:CON), and have improved the referencing.

I also strongly object to the IP editor' suggestion that my edits "are designed to be contentious". In all my edits of this article, I have acted in good faith and sought to present the balance of facts as presented by reliable sources. I note the IP editor has not responded regarding their apparent conflict of interest.

Paul W (talk) 13:02, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

Forgive me if my responses have offended you in any way.

In pursuit of accuracy,

https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-25913

"The SEC’s complaint, filed on December 18, 2023, alleges that, since at least 2019, Mmobuosi spearheaded a scheme to fabricate financial statements and other documents of the three entities"

2019 predates Cleverly's appointment. Can this be re-instated? 87.200.168.125 (talk) 13:35, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

In my view, reinstating such a statement would not be accurate. According to my dictionary, "since" means "from that time on"; in other words, the SEC describes activities that were not confined to 2019 but which continued through to 2023.

The SEC complaint (para 3) does say the alleged fraud's roots "date back years" and accuses Dozy Mmobuosi of creating fake financial statements to falsely portray Tingo Mobile as a thriving and profitable enterprise. However, it also outlines allegedly fraudulent transactions involving Tingo Mobile in December 2022 (para 4) and Tingo Foods in February 2023 (para 7). Along the way (para 5), it also implicates Agri-Fintech in massively overstating reported sales, earnings and assets in publicly-disclosed financial statements through these years.

Paul W (talk) 15:33, 2 January 2024 (UTC)