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The fall of 'Hushpuppi': the millionaire influencer who threw dollars like confetti was sentenced to jail

2021-07-30T19:45:49.605Z


On Instagram, the Nigerian Ramón Olorunwa Abbas showed his luxurious lifestyle. How long could he go to jail for his incredible scam.


07/30/2021 4:25 PM

  • Clarín.com

  • International

Updated 07/30/2021 4:28 PM

The glow of

"Hushpuppi"

, the Nigerian Instagram star who showed his luxurious lifestyle with private jets, designer clothes and luxury cars on the networks, began to fade.

After being arrested in the middle of last year for a millionaire cyber scam, this Friday he made the news again after

accepting his guilt.

That would mean 20 years in jail.

Ramón Olorunwa Abbas

, also known as "Hushpuppi" or

"Billionaire Gucci Master"

 pleaded guilty to the crimes of money laundering, fraud and email fraud in a court in California (United States), in the latest episode of a scandal that links him to an international network of criminals whose loot would have amounted to some 24 million dollars.


Hushpuppi, who has 2.6 million followers,

 had been arrested in June 2020 in Dubai for an alleged scheme involving a network of credit card scams abroad. 

"The suspects attacked the victims abroad by creating fake websites for well-known companies and banks in an attempt to steal the victims' credit card information and then launder the stolen money," the

head of Dubai Police Jamal al-Jalaf.

Abbas is 38 years old and said he was a real estate developer.

Abbas posing as a millionaire real estate developer, flaunted his collections of luxury cars, shoes, watches and other goods to help

attract victims from around the world

.

But all that came to an end.

“Celebrity status and her ability to make connections leaked into legitimate organizations and led to various spin-off schemes in the United States and abroad.

Today's announcement represents a

crucial blow to this international network

and will serve as a warning to potential victims of this type of robbery, ”said

Kristi Johnson

, director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office.

Abbas was charged with several crimes, including conspiring to steal

$ 1,100,000

from a businessman who wanted to finance the construction of a school in Qatar, according to the US Justice Department.

But also of causing losses of a bank in Malta for almost

US $ 15,000,000

and of defrauding of

US $ 7,700,000 

to several companies and another million to an American law firm.

Abbas accepted his guilt in all these crimes.

Ramón Abbas pleaded guilty to money laundering.

On Instagram, Abbas was a celebrity.

There he was shown with music idols and sportsmen, among them Nigerian pop singers

 Davido and WizKid,

 or soccer players in English clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City.

But after his arrest, that entire crystal castle collapsed.

During the investigation, the Justice discovered email addresses of almost 2 million victims on dozens of phones, computers and hard drives.

Abbas, who once posted a video of himself

throwing $ 100 bills like confetti

, was also charged with fraud in Europe, America and Nigeria.

His high-flying lifestyle had been the subject of questions before.

Abbas said he had reinvented himself as a property developer.  

Of his extravagant purchases, Abbas once told his followers: "I post some of these things so that someone

can see my page and decide not to give up

."

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2021-07-30

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