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Ray Hushpuppi, a Nigerian influencer, was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison on Monday, November 7, 2022 as he was previously caught laundering millions of dollars in Los Angeles.
The social media personality often posted pictures of himself in front of supercars and private jets, wearing designer clothing. Don Always, an FBI assistant director, branded the influencer as:
“one of the most prolific money launderers in the world.”
Ray Hushpuppi, whose real name is Ramon Abbas, was ordered to pay a federal judge $1.7 million in restitution to the two victims of his fraudulent activities.
A document reading the sentencing memorandum revealed that Abbas “conspired to launder over $300 million” which “did not ultimately materialize.”
Ray Hushpuppi, who is 40 years old, had amassed over two million Instagram followers just before his 2020 arrest in Dubai.
Ray Hushpuppi’s money laundering activities explained
Prosecutors revealed that Abbas, who is a Nigerian-Canadian, laundered money from various online crimes, including banking cyber-heists and BEC. They are also called "Business E-mail Compromise," where crooks hack into one’s email accounts and pretend to be someone else to deceive the victim into writing money to someone it does not belong to.
In 2019, Hushpuppi allegedly helped in laundering $14.7 million from a bank in Malta and also took part in funneling money through Romanian and Bulgarian banks.
A few of his other criminal activities include getting a New York law firm to transfer $923,000, laundering millions of pounds from a British company and a professional football club in the UK. Ray Hushpuppi also admitted to helping a person in Qatar to launder $15 million.
Ray Hushpuppi boasted about his finances on social media
The influencer's followers on social media were convinced that he was a real estate developer, as stated in his bio. However, he was able to finance his lavish lifestyle through online hacking schemes. Ironically, one of his Instagram post’s caption read:
“I hope someday I will be inspiring more young people to join me on this path.”
In another Instagram post dating back to 2020, the scammer showcased his extravagant lifestyle, while writing alongside:
“Started out my day having sushi down at Nobu in Monte Carlo, Monaco, then decided to book a helicopter to have … facials at the Christian Dior spa in Paris then ended my day having champagne in Gucci.”
Several photos of him posing with luxury car models like Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and others were also present on his Instagram feed. He reportedly captioned one of the pictures where he showed-off the cars as “#All Mine.”
Pictures of him rubbing elbows with several celebrities and international athletes were also present on his feed. Hushpuppi called himself that “Billionaire Gucci Master” on Snapchat.
During his 2020 arrest in Dubai, investigators seized $41 million, email addresses of nearly two million potential victims, a phone, a computer and 13 luxury cars which were worth $6.8 million.
Two weeks before his aforementioned arrest, he wrote in an Instagram post:
“Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings in my life. Continue to shame those waiting for me to be shamed.”
His Instagram account was previously taken soon after his arrest.
