Ramon Abbas, alias Hushpuppi, a Nigerian Instagram celebrity awaiting
sentencing by a United States court, has regretted his involvement in the
fraudulent schemes for which he has been detained since June 2020. Hushpuppi was
arrested in Dubai, the United Arab Emirate (UAE), in June 2020, and subsequently
taken to the US, where he pleaded guilty to the charges in July 2021. The trial
judge, Otis Wright, has fixed 7 November as the date to sentence Hushpuppi,
according to a court’s notice obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.
Ahead of his
sentencing, Hushpuppi begged for leniency in a three-page hand-written letter he
sent to the judge from the Central Valley Annex Prions in McFarland, California.
He specifically expressed regrets for allowing greed to destroy his family name,
and apologies for his actions. Mr Abbas said he would make better choices and
friends if he could turn back the hands of time.
“Your honour, I make no excuse
for my actions and I take full responsibility for what I have done. If I could
turn back the hands of time, I would make an entirely different decision and be
more careful in the choices and friends I make. “Since I have been incarcerated,
I have had enough time to reflect on the past and I regret letting greed ruin
the good name of my family, my blessing and my name,” he stated. Apologies He
apologised to the victims of his crimes, law enforcement agencies, US
government’s lawyers, and the judge handling his case. “I will like to specially
apologise to the victims in the case I am involved with from count(s) one to
five and more personal to ….and her entire family. “I apologise to the law
enforcement agents who have worked tirelessly to make the world a safer place
and to the US Attorney’s entire office for the great work of upholding the law
against criminals like myself; And to the court and you, Your Honour, for
impartial serving of justice through the years.” In his emotional-laden letter
to the judge, he also apologised to his family members, including his parents
and three children aged four, five and eight.
He expressed hope that the
children would forgive him by the time they fully understood the unfolding
events in future. “I also apologise to my parents, my family members, who this
case has affected their lives, my friends and well-wishers, who I have
disappointed, my children even though they may be too young to understand why
I’m absent in their lives, I hope someday they see this and forgive me, and I
hope God forgives me too,” he said. Background The 39-year-old, known for
flaunting his opulent lifestyle on social media, was arrested in Dubai, UAE, by
special agents including the Emerati police officers and Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) operatives in June 2020. He was flown to the US where he was
charged with money laundering offences. Mr Abbas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
engage in money laundering in July 2021. The FBI stated in an affidavit obtained
by PREMIUM TIMES that its investigations revealed that Mr Abbas financed this
extravagant lifestyle with proceeds of crime.
Hushpuppi, according to US
government, “knowingly combined, agreed, and conspired with multiple other
persons (“co-conspirators”) to conduct financial transactions into, within, and
outside the United States involving property that represented the proceeds of
wire fraud” from at least about 18 January 2019 to 9 June 2020. His
co-conspirators, according to prosecutors, targeted multiple victims and
laundered and/or attempted to launder funds fraudulently obtained, and attempted
to be fraudulently obtained, through bank cyber-heists, business email
compromise (BEC) frauds, and other fraud schemes. The intended victims of the
conspiracy were said to include a foreign financial institution, a bank in
Malta, a law firm (located in New York State), and two companies located in the
United Kingdom. Mr Abbas knew “these fraudulent schemes included bank
cyber-heists, BEC schemes, and other fraud schemes”, the prosecutors said. The
foreign financial institution (a bank in Malta) was an intended victim of a
cyber-heist, while the other victims identified above were victims of BEC
schemes. In some BEC schemes involving victim companies in the United Kingdom,
Mr Abbas was said to have with one co-conspirator discussed on May 12, 2019, how
they anticipated fraudulent payments of approximately £6 million per week. “Once
a victim deposited funds into a bank account, defendant would coordinate with
other coconspirators to obtain or move the funds, and then to further launder
the funds,” the U.S. government said. In addition to admitting defendant’s
involvement in the schemes intending to defraud the victims, Mr Abbas was also
said to have admitted involvement in a scheme to defraud a victim company in
Qatar that was building an international school (the Qatari Victim Company) and
the owner of that company. ‘Ephemeral’ involvement Hushpuppi said in his letter
to the trial judge that of all the five cases of fraud listed against him, only
the one perpetrated against the Qatari businessperson provided him some gains.
Denying being the organiser of the scheme, he said he was only recruited into
it. He maintained that his involvement in it “was very ephemeral”. He said, even
though, the fraudulent scheme robbed the victim of about $800,000, he benefitted
only $300,000 from the proceeds. “I was recruited into an ongoing loan scheme
which my involvement was very ephemeral though cost the victim a fraction of a
total loss of over $800,000. “My episode in the scheme amounts to loss of over
$300,000 out of total $800,000 loss to victim which I take full responsibility
for my actions and entire scheme and make no excuse (for) my mistake of ever
getting involved and I have signed for entire loss in this case to be paid with
my personal property not just what I profited but entire loss of over $800,000
in my P.S.R.” But he expressed his willingness to pay full restitution of $1.7
million to all victims including those from whom he claimed not to have derived
any gainamon Abbas, alias Hushpuppi, a Nigerian Instagram celebrity awaiting
sentencing by a United States court, has regretted his involvement in the
fraudulent schemes for which he has been detained since June 2020.
Hushpuppi was
arrested in Dubai, the United Arab Emirate (UAE), in June 2020, and subsequently
taken to the US, where he pleaded guilty to the charges in July 2021. The trial
judge, Otis Wright, has fixed 7 November as the date to sentence Hushpuppi,
according to a court’s notice obtained by PREMIUM TIMES. Ahead of his
sentencing, Hushpuppi begged for leniency in a three-page hand-written letter he
sent to the judge from the Central Valley Annex Prions in McFarland, California.
He specifically expressed regrets for allowing greed to destroy his family name,
and apologies for his actions. Mr Abbas said he would make better choices and
friends if he could turn back the hands of time.
“Your honour, I make no excuse
for my actions and I take full responsibility for what I have done. If I could
turn back the hands of time, I would make an entirely different decision and be
more careful in the choices and friends I make. “Since I have been incarcerated,
I have had enough time to reflect on the past and I regret letting greed ruin
the good name of my family, my blessing and my name,” he stated. Apologies He
apologised to the victims of his crimes, law enforcement agencies, US
government’s lawyers, and the judge handling his case. “I will like to specially
apologise to the victims in the case I am involved with from count(s) one to
five and more personal to ….and her entire family. “I apologise to the law
enforcement agents who have worked tirelessly to make the world a safer place
and to the US Attorney’s entire office for the great work of upholding the law
against criminals like myself; And to the court and you, Your Honour, for
impartial serving of justice through the years.” In his emotional-laden letter
to the judge, he also apologised to his family members, including his parents
and three children aged four, five and eight. He expressed hope that the
children would forgive him by the time they fully understood the unfolding
events in future. “I also apologise to my parents, my family members, who this
case has affected their lives, my friends and well-wishers, who I have
disappointed, my children even though they may be too young to understand why
I’m absent in their lives, I hope someday they see this and forgive me, and I
hope God forgives me too,” he said. Background The 39-year-old, known for
flaunting his opulent lifestyle on social media, was arrested in Dubai, UAE, by
special agents including the Emerati police officers and Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) operatives in June 2020. He was flown to the US where he was
charged with money laundering offences. Mr Abbas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
engage in money laundering in July 2021. The FBI stated in an affidavit obtained
by PREMIUM TIMES that its investigations revealed that Mr Abbas financed this
extravagant lifestyle with proceeds of crime. Hushpuppi, according to US
government, “knowingly combined, agreed, and conspired with multiple other
persons (“co-conspirators”) to conduct financial transactions into, within, and
outside the United States involving property that represented the proceeds of
wire fraud” from at least about 18 January 2019 to 9 June 2020. His
co-conspirators, according to prosecutors, targeted multiple victims and
laundered and/or attempted to launder funds fraudulently obtained, and attempted
to be fraudulently obtained, through bank cyber-heists, business email
compromise (BEC) frauds, and other fraud schemes.
The intended victims of the
conspiracy were said to include a foreign financial institution, a bank in
Malta, a law firm (located in New York State), and two companies located in the
United Kingdom. Mr Abbas knew “these fraudulent schemes included bank
cyber-heists, BEC schemes, and other fraud schemes”, the prosecutors said. The
foreign financial institution (a bank in Malta) was an intended victim of a
cyber-heist, while the other victims identified above were victims of BEC
schemes. In some BEC schemes involving victim companies in the United Kingdom,
Mr Abbas was said to have with one co-conspirator discussed on May 12, 2019, how
they anticipated fraudulent payments of approximately £6 million per week. “Once
a victim deposited funds into a bank account, defendant would coordinate with
other coconspirators to obtain or move the funds, and then to further launder
the funds,” the U.S. government said. In addition to admitting defendant’s
involvement in the schemes intending to defraud the victims, Mr Abbas was also
said to have admitted involvement in a scheme to defraud a victim company in
Qatar that was building an international school (the Qatari Victim Company) and
the owner of that company.
‘Ephemeral’ involvement Hushpuppi said in his letter
to the trial judge that of all the five cases of fraud listed against him, only
the one perpetrated against the Qatari businessperson provided him some gains.
Denying being the organiser of the scheme, he said he was only recruited into
it. He maintained that his involvement in it “was very ephemeral”.
He said, even
though, the fraudulent scheme robbed the victim of about $800,000, he benefitted
only $300,000 from the proceeds. “I was recruited into an ongoing loan scheme
which my involvement was very ephemeral though cost the victim a fraction of a
total loss of over $800,000.
“My episode in the scheme amounts to loss of over
$300,000 out of total $800,000 loss to victim which I take full responsibility
for my actions and entire scheme and make no excuse (for) my mistake of ever
getting involved and I have signed for entire loss in this case to be paid with
my personal property not just what I profited but entire loss of over $800,000
in my P.S.R.” But he expressed his willingness to pay full restitution of $1.7
million to all victims including those from whom he claimed not to have derived
any gain.
Source: premiumtimes
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Hushpuppy
📷:Naija news
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