PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES
A Nigerian social media influencer Ramon Abbas known as Hushpuppi who was arrested in Dubai for financial crimes costing tens of millions of dollars is scheduled to be sentenced by a California court on Monday.
Ramon Abbas could face up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering in July 2021.
Hushpuppi’s Instagram account — which he used as a platform to display his lavish lifestyle to his 2.8 million followers — appears to have been deactivated.
When searching for the account, Persecondnews.com was directed to an Instagram document saying the page was not available and that it “may have been removed”.
Prosecutors alleged he was responsible for scams worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
In one scheme, he tried to steal more than $1.1m from someone who wanted to fund a new children’s school in Qatar.
Court records unsealed in July last year showed he pleaded guilty to this charge on April 20, 2021.
US authorities said Abbas and his accomplices posed as bank officials and created a bogus website to fake the financing of the school.
The gang also bribed a foreign official to keep the charade going after the victim learnt what was happening.
Almost $41m in cash and 13 cars valued at about $6.8m were seized, as were phone and computer evidence containing more than 100,000 fraudulent files.
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