‘Billionaire Gucci Master’ busted! Instagram influencer Hushpuppi flaunted his luxury life of bling in Dubai, but now the Rolls-Royce-loving Nigerian is heading to prison for money laundering millions
A Nigerian social media influencer who called himself Ray Hushpuppi was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison on Monday, November 7, in Los Angeles. He was known for flaunting a lavish lifestyle – which turned out to be fuelled by his efforts to launder millions of stolen dollars.
Here’s everything you need to know about the drama.
Hushpuppi has been ordered to pay US$1.7 million to his victims
Ramon Abbas, 40, was also ordered by a federal judge to pay US$1.7 million in restitution to two fraud victims, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.
Sometimes known as the “Billionaire Gucci Master”, Abbas was “one of the most prolific money launderers in the world”, Don Alway, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said in the statement.
Prosecutors said Abbas and a Canadian man laundered money from various online crimes including bank cyber-heists and business email compromise, or BEC, a prolific crime in which crooks hack into email accounts, pretend to be someone they’re not, and fool victims into wiring money where it doesn’t belong.
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He was in cahoots with North Korean hackers
In 2019, Abbas helped launder some US$14.7 million stolen by North Korean hackers from a bank in Malta, funnelling the money through banks in Romania and Bulgaria, prosecutors said.
He also helped launder millions of pounds stolen from a British company and a professional football club in the UK, got a New York-based law firm to transfer nearly US$923,000 to a criminal account, and acknowledged in a plea agreement that he helped defraud someone in Qatar who sought a US$15 million loan to build a school, federal prosecutors said.
At Monday’s sentencing, Abbas was given 135 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay about US$923,000 in restitution to the law firm and about US$810,000 in restitution to the victim in Qatar.
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“By his own admission, during just an 18-month period, the defendant conspired to launder over US$300 million,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum, although they said much of the intended loss “did not ultimately materialise”.
Living the luxury life on Instagram
His social media posts showed him living a life of luxury, complete with private jets, ultra-expensive cars and high-end clothes and watches.
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“I hope someday I will be inspiring more young people to join me on this path,” read one Instagram post by Abbas, who pleaded guilty in April 2021 to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
Canadian Ghaleb Alaumary, 37, 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 in restitution.
- From loud Louis Vuitton shirts to Bentleys, Rolls Royces and luxury Dubai penthouses, the ‘Billionaire Gucci Master’ was living his best life – until he was arrested in 2020
- Now Hushpuppi – real name Ramon Abbas – has been ordered to pay almost US$2 million in restitution to his victims as’ one of the most prolific money launderers in the world’