Ramon Abbas, Nigerian Instagram Influencer Pleads Guilty to Million-dollar Fraud

Richard Marley

August 09, 2021

Nigerian instagram influencer, Ramon Abbas (Hushpuppi), admitted that he was involved in a conspiracy to defraud a businessman in Qatar for more than $1 million.

Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi, admitted that he was involved in a scheme to defraud a businessman in Qatar of more than $1 million. The US Department of Justice said that the accused confessed that he was laundering money through bank accounts across the world along with several other cybercrimes and business email compromise scams that collectively resulted in a loss of more than $24 million.

Ramon pleaded guilty on April 20, 2021, whereas the court documents were unsealed on July 28. First arrested in June 2020 by UAE authorities at his luxury apartment in Dubai and the police revealed that they seized approximately $41 million in cash with 13 luxury cars. Furthermore, more than 100,000 fraudulent files were found on his phone and computer with addresses of around two million victims.

Flamboyant Nigerian Instagrammer Ramon Abbas alias “Hushpuppi” pleads guilty to money laundering and fraud in a California Court. The 37-year-old was involved in business email scams that cost his victims nearly $24 million.#Curfew Matako Juu Alice Wahome Ongata Rongai Itumbi pic.twitter.com/1fDQpUl0Ta

— Newsplora.co.ke (@newsplora) July 29, 2021

The guilty was turned over to the FBI agents and later to Los Angeles to face trials on money laundering charges. The court documents revealed that Abbas and other defendants reportedly posed as bank clerks and created a fake website for convincing the businessman to give money for financing a school.

According to the Justice Department,

“North Korea’s operatives, using keyboards rather than guns, stealing digital wallets of cryptocurrency instead of sacks of cash, are the world’s leading bank robbers.”

Abbas was accused of conspiring with North Korean hackers to steal more than $1.3 billion from companies and banks in the US and other countries which led him to more trouble.