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Yahoo Yahoo: US Court Delivers Final Ruling On Hushpuppi
The United States District Court sitting in the Central District of California has sentenced Ramon Abass popularly known as Hushpuppi to 11 years and three months imprisonment for money laundering conspiracy through several online scams.
The Publisher Nigeria reports that Justice Otis Wright II delivered the judgment on Monday, saying the court found Hushpuppi guilty of the allegations including laundering proceeds of a school financing scam, business email compromise and other fraudulent cyber schemes levied against him.
Hushpuppi is expected to spend only nine years in prison, having spent two of the eleven years sentence in jail during the trial.
A statement by the US court quoting, US Attorney Martin Estrada reads: “Abbas bragged on social media about his lavish lifestyle – a lifestyle funded by his involvement in transnational fraud and money laundering conspiracies targeting victims around the world.
“Money laundering and business email compromise scams are a massive international crime problem, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement and international partners to identify and prosecute those involved, wherever they may be.
“Ramon Abbas, a.k.a. ‘Hushpuppi,’ targeted both American and international victims, becoming one of the most prolific money launderers in the world,” said Don Alway, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
“Abbas leveraged his social media platforms – where he amassed a considerable following – to gain notoriety and to brag about the immense wealth he acquired by conducting business email compromise scams, online bank heists and other cyber-enabled fraud that financially ruined scores of victims and provided assistance to the North Korean regime.
“This significant sentence is the result of years’ worth of collaboration among law enforcement in multiple countries and should send a clear warning to international fraudsters that the FBI will seek justice for victims, regardless of whether criminals operate within or outside United States borders.”
Recall that Meta, the parent body of Instagram where he (Hushpuppi) is known to spend most of his time showing off his affluence, had earlier deactivated his verified handle.
Hushpuppi was arrested in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in June 2020 and was extradited to the United States on July 3. He was arrested for defrauding over 1.9 million people, the majority of them being Americans.
