A popular African Instagram influencer from Nigeria has been sent to jailed for more than 11 years in the US for his impact in an international frauds.
Hushpuppi, whose real name was Ramon Abbas, Known in showing off his wealthy lifestyle on his page which had 2.8 million followers until it was suspended.
U.S judge in Los Angeles also ordered him to pay $1,732,841 (£1,516,182) in restitution to two fraud victims.
Report also has it that Abbas will serve his sentence of 135 months in a federal prison.
Abbas told court that there was an attempt by him to steal more than $1.1m from someone who wanted to fund a new children’s school in Qatar.
The fraudster tricked his victim into providing funds for the school “by playing the roles of bank officials and creating a bogus website”, according to a statement from the then-acting US Attorney Tracy Wilkinson on the US justice department’s website.
Meanwhile, Other suspects were allegedly also involved, the US justice department said, with Hushpuppi playing a key role.
He also admitted to “several other cyber and business email compromise schemes that cumulatively caused more than $24 million in losses”, the US justice department said.
“Ramon Abbas… targeted both American and international victims, becoming one of the most prolific money launderers in the world,” said Don Alway, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, in a court document on Monday.
“Abbas leveraged his social media platforms… to gain notoriety and to brag about the immense wealth he acquired by conducting business email compromise scams, online bank heists and other cyber-enabled fraud that financially ruined scores of victims and provided assistance to the North Korean regime.
