Abuja, NigeriaCNN —
A Nigerian Instagram celebrity, Ramon Abbas, known as “Hushpuppi” has admitted his involvement in a conspiracy to defraud a Qatari businessman of more than $1m, the U.S. Justice Department has said.
Abbas, 37, also admitted to laundering money “through bank accounts around the world,” including “several other cyber and business email compromise schemes that cumulatively caused more than $24 million in losses,” the statement released Wednesday added.
He pleaded guilty to the charges on April 20, according to court documents which were only unsealed Wednesday.
Instagram star flaunted lavish lifestyle but was actually conspiring to launder hundreds of millions of dollars, US prosecutors say
Abbas was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in June last year after local police raided his Dubai apartment.
Nearly $41 million in cash, 13 luxury cars valued at around $6.8 million, and phone and computer evidence containing more than 100,000 fraud files and the addresses of nearly two million possible victims were found during the raid, according to Dubai Police.
He was arrested alongside another Nigerian man Olalekan Jacob Ponle aka “Woodberry” in a joint operation with United States agents known as “Foxhunt 2,” Dubai police said.
Abbas was handed over to FBI agents, and was later transferred to Los Angeles to face trial on charges of money laundering through cybercrime schemes.
According to court documents, Abbas along with other defendants, faked the financing of a school by posing as bank officials and creating a fake website to convince a Qatari businessman to part with his money. They also “bribed a foreign official to keep the elaborate pretense going after the victim was tipped off,” said Acting United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison
They succeeded in defrauding the businessman of $1.1m and part of the stolen money was used to “purchase a Richard Mille RM11-03 watch, which was hand delivered to Abbas in Dubai and subsequently appeared in Hushpuppi’s social media posts,” prosecutors said.
Abbas also used part of the proceeds to allegedly acquire “St. Christopher and Nevis citizenship, as well as a passport for Abbas obtained by creating a false marriage certificate and then bribing a government official in St. Kitts,” according to official documents.
He flaunted private jets and luxury cars on Instagram. Feds used his posts to link him to alleged cyber crimes
Abbas was a lavish spender who claimed to be a real estate developer and was famous for tossing wads of cash and flaunting his Rolls Royces, luxury watches, and designer clothing on Instagram where he has amassed more than two million followers.
US prosecutors said the popular Instagrammer — described as a high-profile money launderer — “funded his luxurious lifestyle by laundering illicit proceeds generated by con artists who use increasingly sophisticated means.”
Abbas faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced.
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* Visa on arrival countries
Country |
Minimum Investment |
Estimated Time of Passport Issuance |
Visa Free Travel |
---|---|---|---|
$235,000 |
6 - 8 Months |
145 countries
|
|
Austria |
€150,000 |
10 - 12 Months |
190 countries
|
Dominica |
€100,000 |
10 - 12 Months |
143 countries
|
Egypt |
$350,000 |
8 - 12 Months |
53 countries
|
Grenada |
$235,000 |
3 Months |
146 countries
|
Jordan |
$750.000 |
8 - 12 Months |
53 countries
|
Malta |
$235,000 |
3 - 4 Months |
190 countries
|
St. Kitts & Nevis |
$250,000 |
3 - 4 Months |
157 countries
|
St. Lucia |
$350,000 |
1 Months |
146 countries
|
Vanuatu |
$135,000 |
6 - 8 Months |
139 countries
|
Turkiye |
$400,000 |
6 - 8 Months |
110 countries
|
Country |
Minimum Investment |
Estimated Time |
---|---|---|
Austria |
$€100,000 - €400,000 |
3 - 6 Months |
Canada |
CAD 1.2 million |
12 - 24 Months |
Cyprus |
€300,000 |
2 Months |
Greece |
€250,000 |
6 - 8 Months |
Hong Kong |
HKD 10 million |
12 - 24 Months |
Hungary |
€250,000 - €2 million |
12 - 24 Months |
Italy |
€250,000 |
1 - 2 Months |
Latvia |
$250,000 |
2 - 4 Months |
Malaysia |
MYR 1 million |
3 - 6 Months |
Malta |
€300,000 |
3 - 7 Months |
Mauritius |
$375,000 |
2 - 6 Months |
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Burkina Faso
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Ghana
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Guyana
Haiti
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Iceland
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Iran
Ireland
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Ivory Coast
Jamaica
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Kazakhstan
Kenya
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Latvia
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Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macao
Madagascar
Albania
Andorra
Angola
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
DR Congo
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Iran
Ireland
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Loas
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macao
Madagascar
* Visa on arrival countries
Country |
Minimum Investment |
Estimated Time of Passport Issuance |
Visa Free Travel |
---|---|---|---|
$235,000 |
6 - 8 Months |
145 countries
|
|
Austria |
€150,000 |
10 - 12 Months |
190 countries
|
Dominica |
€100,000 |
10 - 12 Months |
143 countries
|
Egypt |
$350,000 |
8 - 12 Months |
53 countries
|
Grenada |
$235,000 |
3 Months |
146 countries
|
Jordan |
$750.000 |
8 - 12 Months |
53 countries
|
Malta |
$235,000 |
3 - 4 Months |
190 countries
|
St. Kitts & Nevis |
$250,000 |
3 - 4 Months |
157 countries
|
St. Lucia |
$350,000 |
1 Months |
146 countries
|
Vanuatu |
$135,000 |
6 - 8 Months |
139 countries
|
Turkiye |
$400,000 |
6 - 8 Months |
110 countries
|
Country |
Minimum Investment |
Estimated Time |
---|---|---|
Austria |
$€100,000 - €400,000 |
3 - 6 Months |
Canada |
CAD 1.2 million |
12 - 24 Months |
Cyprus |
€300,000 |
2 Months |
Greece |
€250,000 |
6 - 8 Months |
Hong Kong |
HKD 10 million |
12 - 24 Months |
Hungary |
€250,000 - €2 million |
12 - 24 Months |
Italy |
€250,000 |
1 - 2 Months |
Latvia |
$250,000 |
2 - 4 Months |
Malaysia |
MYR 1 million |
3 - 6 Months |
Malta |
€300,000 |
3 - 7 Months |
Mauritius |
$375,000 |
2 - 6 Months |
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