Notorious Nigerian fraudster popularly known as Hushpuppi has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in the US for the role he played in an elaborate international swindling syndicate.
The US court ordered Hushpuppi, real name Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, to pay $1,732,841 (an equivalent of 210,973,392) in recompense to two of the victims of his money laundering.
The Nigerian rose to prominence for showing off his wealth and lavish lifestyle on his Instagram page that boasted of 2.8 million followers before US authorities pounced on him.
He was arrested by Dubai police in June 2020 and extradited to the US to face charges for conspiracy to launder money through business email compromise frauds and other scams.
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Assistant Director in charge of FBI's Los Angeles field office, Don Alway, says Abbas had become "one of the most prolific money launderers in the world" behind his online façade.
“Abbas leveraged his social media platforms 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," indicated Alway in a court document on Monday.
In 2021, Hushpuppi pleaded guilty to money laundering and admitted that he had tried to steal more than $1.1 million from someone who sought to finance a new school in Qatar.
The US justice department said the Instagram influencer had also admitted to many other cyber and business email compromise fraud schemes resulting in over $24 million in losses.
On his Instagram page, the Lagos-born Ray Hushpuppi presented himself to his followers as a wealthy real estate developer always flaunted his expensive tastes of the finer things in life.
He was jailed for 135 months despite his apology note to Judge Otis D Wright pledging to reimburse his victims claiming to have made only $300,000 from the crime he was tried for.
Hushpuppi, who was born on October 11, 1982, was charged with fraud including schemes that defrauded a US law firm of about $40 million, illegally transferred $14.7 million from a foreign bank and aimed to steal $124 million from an English Premier League club.
He normally shared photos and videos of his extravagant purchase of exotic cars, watches, designer clothes and bags from high-end brands like Fendi, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton and while on choppers and jets or out with Nigerian politicians, footballers and celebrities.
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