Convicted internet fraudster Ramon Abass aka Hushpuppi will be sentenced on February 14, 2022, the US attorney’s office at the Central District of California has said.
The court’s spokesperson Thom Mrozek said Hushpuppi has been scheduled for sentencing on Valentine’s Day, reports BBC Pidgin.
Mrozek had last year said Hushpuppi was due for sentencing in October 2021.
Hushpuppi faces about 20 years in prison for his crimes bordering on internet scam and money laundering, among others. Many of the victims of the Nigerian were Americans.
A plea bargain signed by Hushpuppi’s lawyer Loius Shapiro; acting US attorney, Tracy Wilkison, among others, stated that Hushpuppi risks “20 years’ imprisonment; a 3-year period of supervised release; a fine of $500,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offence.”
Hushpuppi was in the habit of flaunting wealth on Instagram, sharing photos of extravagant shopping trips, luxury cars, clothes and watches.
An international police investigation uncovered almost $41million in cash and 13 cars valued at about $6.8m. Among his fleet of luxury cars were Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maybach.
The Dubai Police later handed Hushpuppi and his conspirators over to the FBI.
Mrozek had earlier confirmed that the court ordered the FBI to arrest a suspended deputy commissioner of police in Nigeria, Abba Kyari, who is wanted for his alleged role in a $1m scam allegedly perpetrated by Hushpuppi and others.
But Nigeria’s inspector general of police Usman Baba said last October that he had not received any extradition request from the US for Kyari.
