Celebrity influencer ‘scammed £17m to fund luxury lifestyle he bragged about on Instagram’ – World News

Ramon Abbas, 37, known on social media as ‘Hushpuppi’, gained 2.4million followers online after posting extravagant photographs of five-star hotels and luxury cars

An Instagram star with 2.4million followers has admitted money laundering offences after scamming people out of more than £17m to fund his luxury lifestyle.

Ramon Abbas, known on social media as “Hushpuppi”, gained the enormous following online after posting extravagant photographs of five-star hotels and luxury cars.

According to documents filed in California he accepted the charges in a US court and the papers stated he scammed people out of more than $24m (£17m) in total.

The 37-year-old Nigerian was arrested in Dubai, where he lived, in June last year, after being tracked down by the FBI, Insider reports.

According to Dubai Police, officers found nearly £29m in cash, 13 luxury cars valued at around £5m, and phone and computer evidence containing more than 100,000 fraud files and the addresses of nearly two million possible victims.

His arrest came after a months-long FBI Investigation dubbed “Operation Fox Hunt”.

Abbas was charged alongside two other people based in the US, and a further three believed to be in Africa.

All were accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.

Since Abbas’ arrest, he has not posted anything on his Instagram account, but he had previously shared photos of luxury cars, private jets and designer clothing.

The documents claims that one of Abbas’ schemes saw him attempt to steal $1.1m from a business person who wanted to finance a new school in Qatar.

Acting United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison said: “The defendants allegedly faked the financing of a Qatari school by playing the roles of bank officials and creating a bogus website in a scheme that also bribed a foreign official to keep the elaborate pretence going after the victim was tipped off.”

She added that Abbas played “a significant role in the scheme” and “funded his luxurious lifestyle” by laundering the cash.

Kristi K. Johnson, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, described Abbas as “among the most high-profile money launderers in the world”.

She said his guilty plea is “a crucial blow to this international network”.

Abbas’ lawyer had previously insisted that he was innocent and claimed the FBI “kidnapped” him from Dubai.

He told the BBC at the time: “In my opinion, the FBI and the government here acted illegally when they kidnapped him from Dubai without any legal process to do so.

“There was no extradition, there were no legal steps taken, there were no court documents filed, it was simply a call to the FBI.

“He is not a citizen of the United States, the US had absolutely no authority to take him.”

Last June the Mirror reported another of Abbas’ alleged victims was a Premier League football club.

The gang are claimed to have tried to steal £100million from the unnamed club.

A top US law firm and a foreign bank are also said to have been targeted by the gang.

Abbas faces up to 20 years in prison.