The notorious social media influencer “Ray Hushpuppi,” best-known for promoting his opulent lifestyle on Instagram, was sentenced to 11 years in a U.S. prison for money laundering on Monday.
Hushpuppi, whose real name is Ramon Abbas, was ordered to pay more than US$1.7 million (over $2.8 million) in restitution to two fraud victims, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The 40-year-old Nigeria-born influencer was arrested in Dubai two years ago for his role in an international fraud syndicate.
Don Alway, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, called Abbas “one of the most prolific money launderers in the world” in a statement.
Alway claimed Abbas and another man from Mississauga, Ont., conspired to launder money from bank cyber-heists, business email compromise (BEC) schemes and other online frauds. (According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, BEC schemes typically strive for unauthorized access to a business email account to trick a victim business into making an unauthorized wire transfer.)
Abbas was also found guilty of conspiring to launder money for the North Korean regime, which attempted to steal from a bank in Malta by providing account information for banks in Romania and Bulgaria. Abbas admitted to the authorities that the intended loss for the Maltese bank was approximately US$14.7 million (almost $19.7 million).
He also confessed in his plea agreement that he attempted to defraud someone from Qatar who sought a US$15-million loan (over $20 million) to build a school in the country. At his sentencing Monday, he was ordered to pay this person US$809,983 (over $1 million) in restitution.
“By his own admission, during just an 18-month period defendant conspired to launder over $300 million,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum, although they said much of the intended loss “did not ultimately materialize.”
Though his Instagram account has been removed, Abbas once boasted 2.3 million followers. He would regularly “flex” — show off — his lavish lifestyle and expensive cars online.
According to the BBC, Abbas has had a long career in fraud. He reportedly started as a “Yahoo boy,” a Nigerian term for men who carry out romance scams to steal people’s identities and money online.
In a handwritten note to the judge, Abbas claimed to have only received US$300,000 ($401,910) for the crimes he was tried for.
Ghaleb Alaumary, 37, of Mississauga, Ont., was charged separately. He pleaded guilty in 2020 to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to nearly 12 years in federal prison and was ordered to pay more than US$30 million (over $40.1 million) in restitution.
— With files from The Associated Press
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