A Nigerian influencer has flaunted his wealth on Instagram for years. He has now been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in a global money laundering case.
(Bloomberg/lip.) Ramon Abbas, 40, was sentenced to 135 months in prison in Los Angeles on Monday. Also, he has to pay back two fraud victims a total of $1.7 million, like that US Department of Justice announced. The Nigerian, who boasted about fast cars on social networks under the name “Ray Hushpuppi” and had more than two million followers, had already pleaded guilty last year. He was arrested in Dubai in 2020 and his Instagram account has since been deleted.
According to Don Alway, deputy chief of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, Abbas was one of the most prolific money launderers in the world. According to US authorities, he was involved, among other things, in an attempt to launder money stolen by North Korean hackers from a bank in Malta.
Abbas’ lawyers, on the other hand, painted the picture of a family man and successful businessman who strayed into the world of crime and did little more than provide fraudsters with access to bank accounts. US District Judge Otis Wright said he felt prosecutors and defense attorneys were speaking of two different people in their accounts of Abbas.
Prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Abbas to 11 years and three months in prison. Abbas did not know how many people were involved in the conspiracy or how much money was involved, according to his lawyers. They blamed his involvement on his naivety and poor judgment. Abbas apologized to his victims and promised to fully compensate them by selling his two Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari and a Range Rover.