This archive report was first published on 5 July 2020.
July 5, 2020, marked a significant day for Nigerian Instagram star Hushpuppi, real name Ramon Abbas, as he faced charges of attempting to steal £100 million from an English Premier League club.
According to the United States authorities, Hushpuppi, 37, was arrested in Dubai alongside 12 suspects by Interpol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) last month.
He was then transferred to the United States, where he appeared in court in Chicago. The authorities revealed that an English Premier League club was among the victims Hushpuppi conspired to defraud.
As reported by the FBI, the gang is facing charges of conspiracy to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from business email and other scams, including hacking, criminal impersonation, cyber fraud, banking fraud, identity theft, and an unnamed English Premier League club.
It is alleged that Hushpuppi will face a maximum sentence of 20 years if found guilty of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. However, he has yet to respond to the claims.
During the arrest, $40.9 million in cash, 12 luxury cars valued at $6.8 million, 21 Computer Devices, 47 Smartphones, 15 memory sticks, and five hard disks containing '119,580 fraud files as well as addresses of 1,926,400 victims' were seized.
