A Nigerian man labeled a social media influencer and scammer has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to his misdeeds last year.
According to the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, known by his Instagram handle as Hushpuppi, has been sentenced to 135 months in federal prison.
United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II handed the 40-year-old Nigerian national his sentence.
Hushpuppi was also ordered to pay $1,732,841 in restitution to two victims he scammed.“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,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada in a written statement.
“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.”
Hushpuppi pleaded guilty last year in April 2021 to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. He was apprehended in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, back in June 2020. He is currently being held in federal custody, where he has been since being caught in Dubai.
The prolific scammer was indicted on April 29, and papers revealing the ruling were unsealed on July 26. He and five other defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
The document revealed that the Nigerian national pleaded guilty and outlined his role in the school-finance scheme and several other cyber and business email compromise schemes that caused more than $24 million in losses to his fanbase.“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.
He continued: “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.According to Deadline, Hushpuppi will be the focus of a film that Will Packer will produce in conjunction with Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife Studios. Both companies are collaborating to develop an untitled project based on Evan Ratliff’s Bloomberg article, “The Fall of the Billionaire Gucci Master.”