Nigerian social media influencer Ramon Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi was on Friday given an 11-year jail sentence for cyber fraud and money laundering by the United States Central District Court in California.
Hushpuppi, who has already served two years in a United States prison, will now face only nine years in jail.
Hushpuppi and 12 other people were detained in June 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on suspicion of hacking, impersonation, extortion, banking fraud, and identity theft.
They were accused of scamming around 1,926,400 persons from various countries.
Hushpuppi, Image: Daily Post.
Later, Hushpuppi and his accomplices were extradited by the Dubai Police to the US for criminal prosecution.
The US Justice Department charged Hushpuppi with aiding North Korean hackers in money laundering and participating in cyber scams run by three computer programmers who are accused of extorting $1.3 billion in cryptocurrency and cash.
Abbas was accused of taking part in significant fraud that cost his victims in the United States, Qatar, the United Kingdom, and other countries, a combined $24 million.
He entered a guilty plea to the multimillion-dollar fraud allegations that the American government had brought against him in July 2021 and then reached a plea bargain agreement with the US government to enable him to receive a lesser punishment.
Following his request to US Judge Otis Wright for leniency and after performing highly in prison cleaning assignments, Hishpuppi was granted a shorter sentence of only 11 years in prison.
In his appeal to Judge Otis Wright, Hushpuppi described his source of income, and criminal exploits and expressed his regrets.
He praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for its diligent work in bringing him to justice and apologized to his family.
Crime
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