Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi, in a plea agreement pleading guilty to charges of money laundering, wire fraud and others, has indicted a highly decorated Deputy Commissioner of Police in Nigeria, Abba Kyari.
Hushpuppi allegedly paid Abba Kyari to arrest and jail an estranged ‘co-conspirator,’ Chibuzo Vincent after a dispute among members of the conspiracy.
According to a statement released on Wednesday by the United States Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, Hushpuppi allegedly conspired with five others, namely 40-year-old Vincent of Nigeria; 28-year-old Abdulrahman Juma of Kenya, Yusuf Anifowoshe of Brooklyn, New York, 26; Rukayat Fashola, 28; and Bolatito Agbabiaka, 34 to defraud a businessperson in Qatar by claiming to be consultants and bankers who could facilitate a loan to finance the construction of a school for children.
Juma allegedly posed as a facilitator and consultant for the illusory bank loans, while Abbas played the role of “Malik,” a Wells Fargo banker in New York, according to court documents. Vincent, in turn, allegedly provided support for the false narratives fed to the victim by, among other things, creating bogus documents and arranging for the creation of a fake bank website and phone banking line.
Yusuf Adekinka Anifowoshe, a.k.a. “AJ,” of Brooklyn, New York, allegedly played a role in the fraud, assisting Abbas with a call to the victim posing as “Malik.” Special agents with the FBI arrested Anifowoshe in New York on July 22.
The conspirators allegedly defrauded the victim out of more than $1.1 million.
The court document revealed that the proceeds of the fraud allegedly were laundered in several ways.
“Approximately $230,000 of the stolen funds allegedly were used to purchase a Richard Mille RM11-03 watch, which was hand delivered to Abbas in Dubai and subsequently appeared in Hushpuppi’s social media posts.
“Other illicit proceeds from the scheme were allegedly converted into cashier’s checks, including $50,000 in checks that were used by Abbas and a co-conspirator to fraudulently acquire a St. Christopher and Nevis citizenship, as well as a passport for Abbas obtained by creating a false marriage certificate and then bribing a government official in St. Kitts.
The court documents outlined a dispute among members of the conspiracy, which allegedly prompted Vincent to contact the victim and claim that Abbas and Juma were engaged in fraud.
After this contact, Abbas allegedly arranged to have Vincent jailed in Nigeria by Abba Alhaji Kyari, 46, of Nigeria.
According to the affidavit, Kyari is a highly decorated deputy commissioner of the Nigeria Police Force who is alleged to have arranged for Vincent to be arrested and jailed at Abbas’ behest, and then sent Abbas photographs of Vincent after his arrest.
Kyari also allegedly sent Abbas bank account details for an account into which Abbas could deposit payment for Vincent’s arrest and imprisonment.
But in a new development, the leader of the Inspector-General of Police’ Intelligence Response Team has responded to the allegation on his verified Facebook page on Thursday.
Kyari said Hushpuppi called his office two years ago and reported a death threat from someone.
He said the suspect, who was later identified as Chibuzo Vincent, was arrested but released after investigations revealed that “they are long time friends who have money issues between them”.
Kyari also said he did not receive any money from Hushpuppi.
He wrote, “Abbas who we later came to know as Hushpuppi called our office about 2 years ago that somebody in Nigeria seriously threatened to kill his family here in Nigeria and he sent the person’s phone
number and pleaded we take action before the person attacks his family.
“We traced and arrested the suspect and after investigations we discovered there wasn’t an actual threat to anyone’s life and they are long time friends who have money issues between them hence we released the suspect on bail to go and he was not taken to any jail.
“Nobody demanded for a kobo from Abbas Hushpuppi. Our focus was to save people’s lives that were purported to have been threatened.
“Later, he saw some of my native clothes and caps on my social media page and he said he likes them and he was connected to the person selling the clothes and he sent about N300k directly to the person’s account. The native clothes and caps (5 sets) were brought to our office and he sent somebody to collect them in our office.
“Nobody demanded any money from Abbas Hushpuppi and nobody collected any money from him. We responded to a distress call he made on threat to his family and released the suspect when we discovered there was no life threat from the suspect. This is the true story. Vincent is alive, he can be contacted.”
