A video of Nigerian Instagram celebrity Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi, who is facing a prison sentence after admitting to internet fraud, has been shared many times on Facebook alongside claims it shows his release from custody.
This, however, is false, according to the AFP fact checking service. It says the video was taken three years before his arrest in 2020 and subsequent extradition to the US, where he awaits sentencing for his role in a global cyber fraud enterprise.
The video, which shows Abbas walking into what appears to be the arrivals lounge at an airport, has been viewed thousands of times on Facebook.
Posted on February 20, the video includes text that reads “welcome back home brother” and “freedom at last”.
However, the suggestion inferred from the post that Abbas has been released from US custody is false.
Reverse image searches of frames from the video lead to footage uploaded to YouTube in 2017 – three years before his arrest. According to the caption, the video shows Hushpuppi arriving in Cyprus for a birthday celebration.
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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
AFP Fact Check said further searches of the video keyframes reveal the clip was actually taken at Ercan International Airport in northern Cyprus.
About 24 seconds into this longer version of the video on YouTube, the camera focuses on a sign showing the name of the airport, “Ercan Havalimani”, which corresponds with images of the facility’s entrance on Google Maps.
The video goes on to show Abbas coming out of the airport with his entourage. Behind them is a big signpost with the word “CRAIOS”, and a few lamp posts.
Again, these specific landmarks were matched to separate images of the exterior of the terminal building on Google Maps.
Hushpuppi is still in US custody.
Abbas is awaiting sentencing in the US, where he pleaded guilty last year to money laundering and other crimes which led to a Malta bank losing $14.7 million. Furthermore, several so-called “victim companies” lost $7.7m in a separate case linked to an unnamed Premier League football club in England.
He has been in US custody since he was extradited from Dubai in July 2020 and was due to be sentenced on February 14. However, his lawyer asked that his sentencing be moved to a later date, which the California court rescheduled to July 11.
