A Nigerian man nicknamed “Ray Hushpuppi” is facing charges of money laundering as part of a scheme that conspired to launder hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ramon Oloruna Abbas flashed his Rolls Royce, expensive watches, and designer clothing on an Instagram account that amassed 2.4 million followers. The account shows Abbas in front of and on private jets, posing in front of a Ferrari, and other expensive cars.
Prosecutors allege Abbas is one of the leaders of a global network that uses computer intrusions, business email compromise schemes, and money laundering tactics to steal hundreds of millions of dollars, CNN reports. A business email compromise scheme, or BEC, is a scheme where a hacker redirects communications of a business email account to others in an attempt to get the recipient to make a wire transfer.
“This case targets a key player in a large, transnational conspiracy who was living an opulent lifestyle in another country while allegedly providing safe havens for stolen money around the world. As this case demonstrates, my office will continue to hold such criminals accountable, no matter where they live,” US Attorney Nick Hanna said in a statement, according to the publication.
One of Abbas’ many victims was a New York-based law firm that he defrauded of $922,857 in October 2019. Another one of Abbas’ targets was an English Premier League soccer club, but it is unknown if the attempt was successful.
In a Facebook post, the Dubai Police stated that Abbas and 11 other people were arrested in raids in which officials seized almost $41 million, 13 luxury cars totaling $6.8 million, and phone and computer evidence.
Abbas is currently being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago awaiting transfer to Los Angeles.
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