Hushpuppi Sentenced To 11 Years In Prison For Fraud

Nigerian socialite Hushpuppi née Abbas Ramons,has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in the US over internet fraud and money laundering.

Hushpuppi whose Instagram account was recently taken down was extradited to the US in July 2020, a month after a highly publicised arrest at his luxury apartment at a five-star hotel in Dubai.

Court documents said Abbas’s crimes cost victims almost $24 million. Prosecutors alleged he was responsible for scams worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In one scheme, he tried to steal more than $1.1m from someone who wanted to fund a new children’s school in Qatar.

Court records unsealed in July last year showed he pleaded guilty to this charge on April 20, 2021.

US authorities said Abbas and his accomplices posed as bank officials and created a bogus website to fake the financing of the school.

Kristi Johnson, acting director of the FBl’s Los Angeles office, told BBC News that Abbas was one of the “most high-profile money launderers in the world”, who acted in the open rather than the shadows.

Almost $41m in cash and 13 cars valued at about $6.8m were seized, as were phone and computer evidence containing more than 100,000 fraudulent files.

In addition, the email addresses of nearly two million possible victims were found, Dubai Police said at the time.