As the alleged fraud case against
Ramon Abbas proceeds to Los Angeles in California, Gal Pissetzky, his attorney,
will be supported by another top rated lawyer, Vicki Podberesky, Premiumtimes is reporting.
Mrs Podberesky of
Andrues/Podberesky law firm based in Los Angeles, specialises in representing
individuals in both state and federal criminal matters, as well as companies
and individuals in administrative and in-house investigations.
Mr Abbas, popularly addressed as
Hushpuppi, is a Dubai-based Nigerian Instagram celebrity facing wire fraud
charges in the United States.
The Federal Bureau of
Investigation accused him of being part of a network that made “hundreds of
millions of dollars” from business email compromise frauds and other scams.
The 37-year-old was formerly held
in the Metropolitan Correction Centre in Chicago, United States but now, has
been transported to Los Angeles by the U.S. Marshals Service, following a court
ruling in the Northern District of Illinois.
This newspaper gathered that Mr
Pitsetssky, a top criminal defence lawyer, who is only licensed to practice in
Chicago, has applied to appear Pro hac vice on behalf of the alleged fraudster
in California.
Pro hac vice refers to apractice
whereby a lawyer who has not been admitted to practice in a certain
jurisdiction is allowed to participate in a particular case in that
jurisdiction.
The out-of-jurisdiction attorney
is required to provide the court with a statement from his local bar
association indicating that he is a member in good standing.
In most jurisdictions, the
attorney appearing pro hac vice must continue to associate with a locally
licenced attorney, also referred to as “local counsel. However, the degree to
which the local counsel is required or expected to participate in the matter
varies.
Documents obtained by this
newspaper showed that Mr Pitsetssky applied for Pro hac vice on July 22 with an
attestation letter from the Attorney Registration and the Disciplinary
Commission of the Supreme Court in Illinois.
More so, Mrs Podberesky has been
hired as the local counsel to work with Mr Pitsetssky.
The order for Mr Pissetzky to
appear pro hac vice with Mrs Podberesky was granted by a judge, Pedro V
Castillo, of the U.S court in California on Friday.
The notice of appearance was also
filed on the same date.
Speaking with Premiumtimes on Sunday evening, Mr Pitsetssky
noted that the case is far from being set to go to trial as the U.S. government
is yet to turn over all the evidence.
He said the date for the next appearance has not been
released yet.
Mr Abbas, who is currently in detention, might spend the
next twenty years in prison if convicted of the crime.
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