A Nigerian social media influencer who flaunted a lavish lifestyle with private jets and luxury cars has been sentenced to 11 years in prison on charges related to a multimillion-dollar fraud that targeted companies in the United States and abroad.
Ramon Abbas, known to his millions of Instagram followers as Ray Hushpuppi, pleaded guilty in April last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering. In addition to the prison sentence imposed Monday, United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II ordered him to pay $1.7 million in restitution to two fraud victims.
It’s a spectacular fall for Abbas, 40, whose arrest in June 2020 at his gilded perch in Dubai made global headlines. Prior to his sentencing, Abbas was held in federal custody in Los Angeles, his once flamboyant social media account has gone quiet – despite gaining 500,000 new followers since his arrest.
In a handwritten letter to the judge in September – the only direct word from him since his arrest – Abbas explained his two years in detention.
“Since I have been imprisoned, I have had enough time to reflect on the past and I am sorry that I let greed destroy the good name of my family, my blessing and my name,” he wrote.
On social media, where Abbas had posted videos of himself throwing cash like confetti, he referred to himself as a property developer. But federal investigators said he funded his extravagant lifestyle through online hacking schemes that netted him more than $24 million.
His targets included an American law firm, a foreign bank and an unnamed British professional soccer team, among others, according to a federal sentencing memorandum from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
“Money laundering and business email compromise scams are a huge international crime problem and we will continue to work with law enforcement and our international partners to identify and prosecute those involved, wherever they are,” said Martin Estrada, United States Attorney.
Abbas’ letter to Judge Wright in September described how his associates contacted him to identify businesses to defraud or request bank information to transfer fraudulently obtained funds.
His alleged cyber crimes involved huge sums of money.
Federal documents described how Abbas and a co-conspirator “fraudulently induced” a New York law firm to wire nearly $923,000 for a client’s real estate refinancing into a bank account they controlled. A lawyer at the firm received fraudulent wire instructions after sending an email to a legitimate bank email address, but later identified as a “fake” address.
In such a compromise mail scam, criminals impersonate an email or website to make their communication appear to come from a known source making a request, such as a money transfer.
Abbas also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud a Qatari businessman of more than $1 million.
“The defendants allegedly pretended to fund a school in Qatar by playing the roles of bank employees and creating a fake website in a scheme that also bribed a foreign official to maintain the elaborate pretense after the victim was tipped off,” Acting United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison said in a statement last year.
Since his arrest, Abbas said, he has had time to reflect on his mistakes.
“Your honor, I make no excuses for my actions and take full responsibility for what I have done,” he wrote in his letter. “If I could turn back time, I would make a completely different decision and be more careful about the choices and friends I make.”
One of his associates pleaded guilty in November 2020 to one count of money laundering conspiracy. He is also serving 11 years in federal prison and must pay more than $30 million in restitution.
Federal investigators have described Abbas as a prolific money launderer who used his social media platform to gain fame and flaunt his wealth.
A Nigerian national based in Dubai, Abbas has made no secret of his lavish lifestyle. Before his arrest, he called himself the “Billionaire Gucci Master” on Snapchat.
“Started my day having sushi at Nobu in Monte Carlo, Monaco then decided to book a helicopter to get… facials at the Christian Dior spa in Paris then ended my day drinking champagne at Gucci,” she captioned the photo on Instagram in 2020.
Photos of him posing with several models of Bentleys, Ferraris, Mercedes Benz and Rolls-Royces included the hashtag #AllMine. Others showed him rubbing elbows with international sports stars and other celebrities.
In a 2020 affidavit, federal officials described how his social media accounts provided details needed to confirm his identity.
Account registration and security information associated with his Instagram profile, for example, included an email address and phone number. Federal officials had access to this information and were able to link the email and phone number to financial transactions and transfers with people the FBI believed to be his co-conspirators.
Even photos of Abbas’ birthday party on Instagram helped the investigation.
One such post featured a birthday cake with a Fendi logo and a miniature of Abbas surrounded by tiny shopping bags. Investigators used this location to verify the date of birth he had used on a previous US visa application.
In June 2020, United Arab Emirates investigators entered Abbas’ apartment at the exclusive Palazzo Versace resort in Dubai, arrested him and handed him over to FBI agents.
Investigators at the scene seized nearly $41 million, 13 luxury cars worth $6.8 million and phone and computer data, including the email addresses of nearly 2 million potential victims, Dubai police said in a statement.
“Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings in my life. Keep shaming those who wait for me to be shamed,” Abbas wrote in a photo of a Rolls-Royce on Instagram just two weeks before his dramatic arrest.
The account has since been removed.
