Hushpuppi Finally Pleads Guilty To Fraud Charges In The US, Risks 20 Years Imprisonment

Nigerian Instagram celebrity, Ramon Abass, has finally agreed to plead guilty to the multi-million-dollar fraud charges filed against him by the United States government.

Arrested in Dubai, the United Arab Emirate (UAE) in June 2020, and subsequently extradited to the U.S. where most of the victims of his alleged fraudulent activities are based, Mr Abass has spent the last one year in custody maintaining his innocence.

However, with the commencement of his trial around the corner, Mr Abass has now made a volte-face, entering into a plea bargain agreement with the U.S. government in the hope of getting a lighter punishment.

He will now be pleading guilty to Count Two which is “Conspiracy to Engage in Money Laundering,” an offence that attracts a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment among other punishments including full restitution, his plea agreement with the U.S. government states in part.

A date is to be fixed for Mr Abass to change his previous “not guilty” plea to “guilty” and will be followed by a sentencing hearing for the judge to determine how long he will spend in jail.

The 37-year-old was arrested in Dubai in June 2020 alongside 12 other members of his crew.

The Dubai Police said it discovered that fraud amounting to 1.6 billion Dirham (N168 billion) had been committed by the gang.

No fewer than 1,926,400 people from different parts of the world were also said to have fallen victims to the suspects.

According to the police, 13 luxury cars, estimated at 35 million Dirham (N3.7 billion) were recovered from the house where they were arrested.

The Dubai Police later handed Abbas and his conspirators over to the FBI in the US and they had since been arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, among others.

-Premium Times