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An Instagram star from Nigeria has been jailed for 11 years in the US after admitting his involvement in a series of online scams that cost him $24 million. The FBI said he was one of the world’s biggest moneylenders. Ramon Abbas, 40, known as Hushpuppi to his millions of followers, admitted that he participated in the events, the Department of Justice said this week. Abbas has been charged with one count of money laundering after creating a fake website and misleading bank officials to defraud a victim of $1.1 million, the Daily mail said.
Abbas joins cybercriminals and business email compromise (BEC), a crime that involves defrauding others by hacking into email accounts and forcing victims to give them money. them. Along with the prison sentence, Abbas was ordered to pay $1.7 million in restitution to the victims of his fraud. Read on to find out what’s going down.
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That’s millions in tax revenue, officials say
Prosecutors said Abbas had recovered $14.7 million stolen by North Korean militants from a bank in Malta in 2019, funneling the money through banks in Romania and Bulgaria. He also recovered millions of dollars stolen from a British company and a Premier League soccer club, according to court documents. On his Instagram account, Abbas showed a luxurious lifestyle, living in a Dubai penthouse, on a plane, and with expensive cars. The FBI eventually used the material’s evidence to make a case against him, the Daily mail report.
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“Many Victims”
“Ramon Abbas … targeted victims in the United States and around the world and became one of the world’s most prolific moneylenders,” said Don Alway, assistant director of the Los Angeles FBI office. “Abbas used his social media… to gain notoriety and brag about the wealth he gained by running business email scams, online bank robberies and other activities cyber-fraud caused a lot of victims and helped North Korea. The Korean culture,” Alway said.
Last year, Abbas pleaded guilty to embezzlement, having tried to steal more than $1.1m from someone who wanted to fund a new school for children in Qatar. Court documents in California say he played a key role in the project, playing “the roles of bank bosses and creating a fake website,” BBC News said.
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Abbas was involved in several Heists
Abbas also admitted to “several other cyber and business email fraud schemes that resulted in more than $24 million in losses,” the Justice Department said. Crazy said Abbas’ victims included a New York law firm that he urged to wire $900,000 into a criminal account, an unnamed English soccer club, and someone who was going to use their money to fund a school. New in Qatar. In 2019, Abbas attempted to recover $13 million stolen by North Korean militants from Malta’s Bank of Valletta, which shut down payment systems and left the country in trouble.
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Criticism does not bring love
At his sentencing, Abbas delivered a handwritten statement of apology to the judge. He said he would repay his victims, although he said he only received $300,000 for the crime he is accused of. But Abbas was still sentenced to 135 months in prison. Abbas was first arrested in Dubai in 2020, and officers seized $41 million in cash and 13 luxury cars worth $6.8 million.
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Authorities say money laundering is a serious problem
“This major sentence is the result of years of cooperation between law enforcement agencies in many countries, and should send a clear warning to criminals around the world that the FBI will seek justice for the victims. , whether the perpetrators are operating inside or outside the borders of the United States,” the Justice Department said. “Money laundering and business transactions are a serious global problem, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement and international partners to identify and prosecute those involved, wherever they are. ,” said Martin Estrada, a United States attorney. CNN.
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