A notorious Instagram influencer was sentenced to more than 11 years in jail for his role as an international fraudster who laundered tens of millions of dollars for criminal hackers.
Hushpuppi (real name Ramon Abbas) flaunted his luxurious, crime-funded lifestyle on social media, showing off luxury cars and Dubai pads to his millions of followers.
The 40-year-old Nigerian has now been ordered to pay $1,732,841 (£1,516,182) to two of his victims, and faces 135 months in jail.
Although he described himself online as a "Real Estate Developer", Abbas's money appears to have actually come from fraudulent email scams.
“Abbas bragged on social media about his lavish lifestyle – a lifestyle funded by his involvement in transnational fraud and money laundering conspiracies targeting victims around the world,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada.
“Money laundering and business email compromise scams are a massive international crime problem, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement and international partners to identify and prosecute those involved, wherever they may be.”
Hushpuppi was arrested in Dubai two years ago. He pleaded guilty to money laundering last year, admitting to attempting to steal more than $1.1m from someone who wanted to fund a new children's school in Qatar.
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, a.k.a. ‘Hushpuppi,’ 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.
“Abbas leveraged his social media platforms – where he amassed a considerable following – 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."
He spent some of his ill-gotten gains on insanely expensive designer goods like a $230,000 Richard Mille RM11-03 watch, which he arranged to have brought to him from New York to Dubai.
One of his schemes saw him and his cohorts plunge the island of Malta into crisis, with payment systems shutting down after he tried to launder €13m ($13m) stolen by a gang of North Korean hackers from the Maltese Bank of Valletta.
Beneath an Instagram post of a Rolls-Royce, he wrote: "Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings in my life. Continue to shame those waiting for me to be shamed."
He was arrested a fortnight later.
