The United States District Court for the Central District of California sentenced Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hush Puppy, to 11 years and three months in prison for multiple counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering through online fraud.
Naija News reports that Judge Otis Wright II handed down the ruling on Monday, finding Hushpuppi guilty of charges including school loan fraud, business email compromise and laundering the proceeds of other cyber frauds.
Hushpuppi is expected to serve just nine years in prison because he spent two years of his 11-year sentence in prison awaiting trial.
The US court quoted US Attorney Martin Estrada as saying: “Abbas boasted on social media about a lavish lifestyle funded by funds obtained from his involvement in an international fraud and money laundering conspiracy that targeted victims around the world.”
“Money laundering and business email compromise are massive international crime problems, and we continue to work with law enforcement and international partners to identify and prosecute those involved wherever they may be.”
“Ramon Abbas, a.k.a. ‘Hush Puppy,’ has become one of the world’s most prolific money launderers, targeting entities both in the United States and abroad,” said Don Alway, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
“Abbas used his social media platforms, where he had amassed a significant following, to gain notoriety and boast about the enormous wealth he had acquired through business email compromise, online bank robberies and other cyber-enabled fraud, financially ruining numerous victims and supporting the North Korean regime.
“This significant sentence is the result of years of collaboration between law enforcement agencies in multiple countries and sends a clear signal to international fraudsters that the FBI will pursue justice for their victims, regardless of whether the criminals operate inside or outside U.S. borders.”
It may be recalled that Meta, the parent company of Instagram, where Hush Puppies is known to spend most of his time flaunting his wealth, had previously deactivated his verified handle.
Hushpuppy was arrested in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in June 2020 and extradited to the United States on July 3. He was arrested for allegedly defrauding more than 1.9 million people, the majority of whom were Americans.