New Telegraph

Hushpuppi dupes 1,926,400, steals N168bn

Dubai Police Force, United Arab Emirates, has released a video showing details of how Ramon Abass, also known as Hushpuppi, was arrested for humongous fraud. This came less than a week after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared Hushpuppi wanted in relation to several money laundering crimes.

The Police recovered 21 computers, 47 smart phones, 15 storage memory devices and five hard disks containing data from the Dubai- based Nigerian. The police disclosed that Hushpuppi and his team’s modus operandi was to create fake pages for existing websites and redirect victims’ payments to their own accounts. The gang also specialised in hacking corporate emails and sending fake messages to clients in order to redirect financial transfers and bank details to their own accounts. According to the video, a crack team had been tracking Hushpuppi and his gang’s activities on social media for four months.

The suspect had repeatedly attributed his stunning wealth to being a successful businessman, and often displayed tons of money and exotic cars on social media. Hushpuppi was arrested along with 12 other members of his gang. The Dubai Police disclosed that it discovered that fraud amounting to 1.6 billion Dirham, which is equivalent of about N168 billion, had been committed by the gang. The Dubai Police further noted that no fewer than 1,926,400 people from different parts of the world had fallen prey to the fraudulent antics of the gang.

The police mentioned that 13 luxury cars, estimated at 35 million Dirham, equivalent of about N3.7 billion, were recovered from the house where they were arrested. The Dubai Police said the operation leading to the arrests was dubbed “Fox Hunt 2.” Referring to him as Nigeria’s most wanted hacker, EFCC confirmed that Hushpuppi was arrested on June 10 by the INTERPOL in the United Arab Emirates, and stated that EFCC is engaging with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), “in tracing victims of his fraudulent transactions and other fraudsters having direct involvement with him”. “The Commission is familiar with grisly details of his money laundering transactions, involving many high-profile cyber criminals facing trial in Nigeria,” EFCC said. Several local cyber criminals with moneylaundering networks connected to him are also being investigated, even as the INTERPOL expedites sayplans to extradite him to Nigeria to face multiple fraud charges. Hushpuppi recently posted a picture of a newly acquired 2020 Rolls Royce Cullinan, estimated to worth about N280 million. He also does regular give-aways and freebies on his Instagram account, asking followers to inbox their account details to receive the gifts. Up until last year, his Instagram profile read, ‘the Billionaire Gucci master’ but he changed it to ‘real estate developer’ after the EFCC arrested one of his associates, Ismaila Mustapha, also known as Mompha.

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