The US Attorney’s Office at the Central District of
California on Thursday described as false, reports, that
alleged international fraudster, Ramon Abbas aka Hushpuppi, committed over
$400,000 fraud while in an American prison.
The court’s Director of Media Relations, Thom Mrozek, made
this known in an email response to an inquiry on Thursday.
According to him, the Federal Bureau of Investigation did
not file any such allegation against Hushpuppi.
The court official also said the FBI Special Agent, Andrew
Innocenti, who was said to have filed the fresh charges against Hushpuppi said
he didn’t author such a document.
“After looking at the document excerpted in recent media
accounts, the document appears to have been fabricated.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, which filed the
case against Mr. Abbas, has not filed any such document.
“We have checked with the FBI agent who supposedly authored
the document, and he confirms it is a fake,” Mrozek said.
The Dubai Police in the United Arab Emirates had in June
2020 arrested Hushpuppi and his gang. They were later extradited to the US for
prosecution by the FBI.
In a plea agreement document sighted by our correspondent Hushpuppi
subsequently pleaded guilty to various offences bordering on internet scam and
money laundering, among others.
The document stated that Hushpuppi risks “20 years’
imprisonment; a 3-year period of supervised release; a fine of $500,000 or
twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offence”.
The court also said Hushpuppi would be sentenced on July 11,
2022.
Innocenti had alleged that Hushpuppi contracted the services
of suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, after a “co-conspirator,”
Chibuzo Vincent, allegedly threatened to expose the alleged $1.1m fraud
committed against a Qatari businessman.
Innocenti, who said he obtained voice calls and WhatsApp
conversations between Kyari and Hushpuppi, had also alleged that the latter
paid the police officer N8m or $20,600 for the arrest and detention of Vincent.
After months of footdragging, the Attorney-General of the
Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), recently okayed the extradition of Kyari to
the US for prosecution but the case of the ‘super cop’ in the net of the
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for alleged narcotics crimes might stall
the extradition proceeding.
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