konga Ad Campaign konga Ad Campaign konga Ad Campaign
ADVERTISEMENT
  • The Membership Club
  • #EndSARS Dashboard
  • PT Hausa
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Premium Times Nigeria
  • Home
  • Gender
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Special Reports and Investigations
      • Health Specials
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Special Reports/Investigations
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • #EndSARS Dashboard
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • #PandoraPapers
  • AUN-PT Data Hub
  • Home
  • Gender
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Special Reports and Investigations
      • Health Specials
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Special Reports/Investigations
    • Features and Interviews
    • Multimedia
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • #EndSARS Dashboard
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • #PandoraPapers
  • AUN-PT Data Hub
Premium Times Nigeria
BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
RAMON OLORUNWA ABBAS, aka “Ray Hushpuppi,” [PHOTO CREDIT: Official Instagram account of Hushpuppi]

RAMON OLORUNWA ABBAS, aka “Ray Hushpuppi,” [PHOTO CREDIT: Official Instagram account of Hushpuppi]

‘Court document’ accusing Hushpuppi of fresh $400,000 fraud is fake – U.S. Attorney-General’s office

Many major Nigerian media platforms, on Thursday, published the reports of a fresh court filing by an agent of FBI, Andrew Innocenti, purportedly detailing fresh allegations of $400,000 fraud against Hushpuppi.

byAde Adesomoju
March 17, 2022
4 min read

The United States Attorney General’s office has debunked the news making the rounds about fresh allegations of $400,000 fraud allegedly perpetrated from detention by Abbas Ramon, also known as Hushpuppi.

Thom Mrozek, Director of Media Relations, United States Attorney’s Office (Los Angeles), distanced both the attorney-general’s office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from the fresh allegations against the Instagram celebrity. The American official provided the clarification in his response to an enquiry sent to him by PREMIUM TIMES early Thursday.

Mr Mrozek, who got our reporter’s initial email at about 7a.m. Los Angeles time, promised to carry out an investigation after this newspaper expressed concerns about the authenticity of the documents in circulation on the Internet.

Many major Nigerian media platforms on Thursday published reports of a fresh court filing by an agent of the FBI, Andrew Innocenti, which purportedly detailed fresh fraud allegations against Mr Abbas.

The content of the document, which claims to have “new information involving Abbas”, had what appeared scintillating investigative details that ended up deceiving many reputable news platforms.

It purportedly accused the former Instagram celebrity of committing fresh credit card fraud from detention, abusing the opportunity given to all prison inmates in the U.S. for “access to phone calls, the Internet and computers with limited and regulated usage.”

“Recorded international activities (reviewed pursuant to federal search warrant issued in this district) of Abbas in the US Federal correctional facility, Central District of California, reflect that Abbas purchased Economic Impact Payment (EIP) debit cards and laundered the proceeds totalling over $400,000,” the document added.

The document also paraded names like Mr Innocenti’s and that of a magistrate-judge of a District Court of Central California, Rozella A. Oliver, which featured in documents previously filed in Hushpuppi’s pending case.

Hushpuppi, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering charge at the same court, is awaiting sentencing slated for July 11.

After extensive review of the document, this newspaper doubted its authenticity. The document lacked the usual headings that usually provide basic details such as the name of the court where the document is filed, the parties, the suit number, and the title of the filing.

Our observation about the lack of clarity and the incompleteness of the document led PREMIUM TIMES to reach out to relevant contacts for confirmation.

The office of the lawyer to Mr Abass denied knowledge of the filing of the document when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday. The document was also not found in the court’s docket accessed through online channels by this newspaper.

Responding to an e-mail enquiry by this newspaper, Mr Mrozek, the spokesperson for the U.S. attorney-general’s office in Los Angeles, described the document in circulation as fake.

Mr Mrozek, after extensive investigation within the U.S. justice system, quoted both Mr Innocenti and the attorney-general’s office as denying the document.

“After looking at the document excerpted in recent media accounts, the document appears to have been fabricated,” he stated.

The official added: “The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, which filed the case against Mr. Abbas, has not filed any such document.

“We have checked with the FBI agent who supposedly authored the document, and he confirms it is a fake.”

Scintillating allegations

In the allegations levelled against Mr Abbas in the viral document, the FBI purportedly accused him of participating in the purchase of Economic Impact Payment (EIP) debut card fraudulently obtained from compromised U.S. citizens.

The document described EIP as stimulus checks or “recovery rebates” as a key provision of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Impact Security (CARES) Act legislation that Congress passed to passed to help reduce the financial burden on citizens.

It noted that inmates in correctional facilities across the U.S. are allowed certain activities including access to phone calls, the Internet and computers with limited and regulated usage.

It added that inmates have constitutional rights to their privacy and that phone calls from correctional facilities by inmates are not recorded except when necessary and a warrant is obtained for this purpose.

Inmates’ internet activities are not logged or recorded except when necessary, the document added.

It also stated: ”Between January 28, 2022 and March 4, 2022, security officers at US federal correctional facility, Central District of California, observed more frequent usage of the Internet by Abbas. With the knowledge that the crimes Abbas committed which he is being charged for are all Internet related crimes, security officers were concerned and informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“On March 7, we obtained a federal search warrant issued by Central District of California to monitor and record Abbas intent activities.”

It added that the FBI agent claimed to have monitored Mr Abbas’ internet activities between March 7 and March 13. It claimed Mr Abbas spent an average of 55 minutes on the Internet during each session.

It identified one AJ as Hushpuppi’s accomplice and promised to unearth the person’s identity.

Background

Hushpuppi had in July last year signed a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors alleged that no later than on or about January 18, 2019, through on or about June 9, 2020, Hushpuppi “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.”

He allegedly 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.

In some BEC schemes involving victim companies in the United Kingdom, Mr Abass 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 listed above, Mr Abass 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.

He was also said to have, in December 2019, begun conspiring with a co-conspirator to defraud the owner of the Qatari company “who was seeking a lender to invest $15,000,000 in a project to build an international school”.

In a separate case, the U.S. government accused a suspended deputy commissioner of police, Abba Kyari, of aiding part of the fraud perpetrated by Hushpuppi.

Mr Kyari and others have been charged by the U.S. government. He is awaiting extradition for his trial to start in the U.S.

  • WhatsApp
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Telegram
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket



Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility

Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.

For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.

By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.

Donate


TEXT AD: Call Willie - +2348098788999






PT Mag Campaign AD

Previous Post

It was Bianca Ojukwu who slapped Obiano’s wife, video reveals

Next Post

APC Crisis: How Gov Bello, others plotted, removed Akpanudoedehe as Secretary

Ade Adesomoju

Ade Adesomoju

More News

Peter Obi, Poju Oyemade, Wike and Atiku

PT State of the Race: Peter Obi’s illiberal supporters and Atiku’s tight rope

July 3, 2022
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing [PHOTO CREDIT: George Kaduna/Premium Times]

INTERVIEW: What UK govt is doing about stolen funds, artefacts from Nigeria – British Envoy

July 3, 2022
FRSC Officials on duty

11 dead in Lagos-Ibadan expressway accident

July 3, 2022
Some of the soldiers killed in the attack

INSECURITY: 30 soldiers, 10 police officers, 11 civilians killed in Nigeria last week

July 3, 2022
Gov. Abdulazizi-Yari

Accused of multi-billion naira corruption, ex-governor distributes 370 cows, 3,500 rams for Sallah

July 3, 2022
Israel Adesanya [PHOTO: TW @espnmma]

#UFC276: Israel Adesanya beats Cannonier to defend title

July 3, 2022
Next Post
Former interim national secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), John Akpanudoedehe.

APC Crisis: How Gov Bello, others plotted, removed Akpanudoedehe as Secretary

Mala Buni [PHOTO CREDIT: @OfficialAPCNg]

Buni returns to Nigeria, endorses actions taken by Gov Bello

Read All Comment

Search

AUN-PT Ad




Access Bank Ad







Subscribe to News via Email

Enter your email address and receive notifications of news by email.

Join 13,450 other subscribers.

Advertisement




netherland biz school Advert



ADVERTISEMENT

Our Digital Network

  • PT Hausa
  • Election Centre
  • Human Trafficking Investigation
  • Centre for Investigative Journalism
  • National Conference
  • Press Attack Tracker
  • PT Academy
  • Dubawa
  • LeaksNG
  • Campus Reporter

Resources

  • Oil & Gas Facts
  • List of Universities in Nigeria
  • LIST: Federal Unity Colleges in Nigeria
  • NYSC Orientation Camps in Nigeria
  • Nigeria’s Federal/States’ Budgets since 2005
  • Malabu Scandal Thread
  • World Cup 2018
  • Panama Papers Game
  • Our Digital Network
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Projects
  • Data & Infographics
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

No Result
View All Result
  • #PandoraPapers
  • Gender
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Investigations
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Multimedia
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • #EndSARS Dashboard
  • Projects
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • Parliament Watch
    • AGAHRIN
  • AUN-PT Data Hub
  • Opinion
  • The Membership Club
  • DONATE
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • PT Hausa
  • Dubawa NG
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Store

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

Our website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.