Nigerian fraudster Hushpuppi removed from Instagram ahead of sentencing

The high-profile social media celebrity admitted money laundering last year and could face up to 20 years in prison

Ramon Abbas was extradited to the US after his arrest in Dubai in 2020. He was sentenced to 11 years in jail on Monday, November 7, 2022. Photo: Dubai Police

Hushpuppi posed as a property investor and businessman. Pictures from his Instagram account – which had more than two million followers before it was shut down – showed him landing at Atlantis, The Palm in a helicopter. Photo: Dubai Police

Police said they had sought Hushpuppi after he was implicated in an online fraud. Photo: Dubai Police

A police video showed the suspect apparently admitting and explaining how the fraud worked. Photo: Dubai Police

A police video showed arrests at luxury properties in Dubai. Photo: Dubai Police

Hushpuppi was arrested along with 11 others, some of whom are pictured here. Photo: Dubai Police

Officers seized 13 luxury cars worth an estimated Dh25 million ($6.8m). The vehicles had been paid for with victims' money. Photo: Dubai Police

Hushpuppi with a Rolls-Royce in Dubai. The National

A Nigerian influencer known as Hushpuppi who was arrested in Dubai for financial crimes costing tens of millions of dollars is scheduled to be sentenced by a California court on Monday.

Ramon Abbas could face up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering in July 2021.

He was extradited to the US in July 2020, a month after a highly publicised arrest at his luxury apartment at a five-star hotel in Dubai.

Court documents said Abbas's crimes cost victims almost $24 million. Prosecutors alleged he was responsible for scams worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In one scheme, he tried to steal more than $1.1m from someone who wanted to fund a new children's school in Qatar.

Court records unsealed in July last year showed he pleaded guilty to this charge on April 20, 2021.

US authorities said Abbas and his accomplices posed as bank officials and created a bogus website to fake the financing of the school.

The gang also bribed a foreign official to keep the charade going after the victim learnt what was happening.

Instagram account deactivated

Hushpuppi's Instagram account — which he used as a platform to display his lavish lifestyle to his 2.8 million followers — appears to have been deactivated.

When searching for the account, The National was directed to an Instagram document saying the page was not available and that it “may have been removed”.

The account featured images of Abbas's ostentatious lifestyle, including stepping out of a helicopter at Dubai's Atlantis The Palm resort and collecting a new Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

Kristi Johnson, acting director of the FBI's Los Angeles office, told BBC News that Abbas was one of the “most high-profile money launderers in the world”, who acted in the open rather than the shadows.

Almost $41m in cash and 13 cars valued at about $6.8m were seized, as were phone and computer evidence containing more than 100,000 fraudulent files.

In addition, the email addresses of nearly two million possible victims were found, Dubai Police said at the time.

Instagram was contacted for comment.