US Court Sentences Serial Internet Fraudster, Hushpuppi To 11 Years, Three Months
Indicted Nigerian internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas popularly known as “Hushpuppi” has been sentenced to 11 years and three months in a federal prison for conspiring to launder tens of millions of dollars from online scams.
Justice Otis Wright II, of the United States District Court for the Central District of California who delivered the judgment on Monday, found Hushpuppi guilty of laundering proceeds of school financing scam, business email compromise fraud and other cyber schemes
The judgment draws the curtain on Hushpuppi’s trial spanning two years and four months since his arrest in June 2020 at his Dubai hotel apartment.
The judge in Los Angeles also ordered him to pay $1,732,841 (£1,516,182) in restitution to two fraud victims.
Abbas pleaded guilty in April 2021 to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. He was arrested in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in June 2020 and has remained in federal custody since his expulsion from the UAE.
Hushpuppi in September contracted a top Washington, D.C. criminal defence attorney, John Iweanoge in a bid to avoid his impending jail sentence of 11 years as suggested by the United States prosecutors.
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Iweanoge is a top Washington, D.C. criminal defence attorney popular among Nigerian suspects charged in Virginia and Maryland.
A report stated that in a pro hac vice application filed before the United States District Court in the Central District of California, Abbas named Iweanoge as his attorney.
“APPLICATION of Non-Resident Attorney John O. Iweanoge, II to Appear Pro Hac Vice on behalf of Defendant Ramon Olorunwa Abbas (Pro Hac Vice Fee – $500 Fee Paid, Receipt No. ACACDC-33979986) Filed by Defendant Ramon Olorunwa Abbas. (Attachments: # (1) Proposed Order G-64 Order for Pro Hac Vice Admission) (Khouri, Michael),” the report quoted the document.
Meanwhile, it is understood that Abbas’ decision to contract the popular attorney follows the fact that his sentencing hearing comes up on September 21.
It had been reported earlier that Abbas’ attorney, Louis Shapiro and U.S. officials sparred in court as he (Abbas) has been trying to delay his sentencing until November.
Shapiro had argued that Abbas would be unable to prepare for his sentencing hearing without all the documents relating to the Juma case.
The charges on the Juma case had been dropped by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in line with a plea bargain deal.
But the prosecutors, led by Khaldoun Shobaki, insisted that there was no reason to “further delay the already long-delayed sentencing in this case,” seeing that Abbas admitted playing a leading role in the scheme when he pleaded guilty on April 20, 2021.
The prosecutors asked a federal judge to sentence Abbas to 11 years in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a multinational conspiracy that earned him millions of dollars between 2019 and 2020.
They also suggested that Abbas should be asked to pay $1.7million in restitution, $500,000 in fines, and $100 in administrative fees ahead of his sentencing.
On the other hand, Abbas had previously tried to seek a release on humanitarian grounds, but Judge Otis D. Wright declined his pleas for failing to comply with extant court rules.
