Internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas, otherwise known as ‘Hushpuppi’, has told the US court that he was not aware that the $14.7 million Malta bank fraud was an internet crime.
Abbas claimed he ignorantly provided bank account information to “an old friend” in need – Ghaleb Alaumary, unknown to him, he was a bank heist mastermind.
Louis Shapiro, an American defence attorney hired by Mr Abbas, spoke in a memorandum seeking a downward review of the fraudster’s sentencing. According to Shapiro, “In this case, Mr Abbas was approached by an old friend Ghaleb Alaumary or Alamaury and was asked to help him procure bank account information.
“This information was to be used to wire transfer fraudulently obtained funds – the extent of which was unknown to Mr Abbas.”
Shapiro made the claimed in the memorandum filed on September 5 at the District Court for the Central District of California according to agency reports.
Hushpuppi’s attorney further noted that the money heist had already been set in motion even before the Nigerian’s involvement, suggesting Mr Abbas only made an error of judgment by furnishing his “friend” with bank details used in carrying out the heist.“The scheme that Mr Abbas became entangled in was already in operation prior to his involvement. It was being spearheaded by Ghaleb Alaumary and individuals in North Korea, with whom Mr Abbas had no knowledge,” the lawyer further claimed in an effort to temper the gravity of Mr Abbas’s crime.
“Mr Abbas was not aware of how many individuals were involved in this scheme, neither was he aware of the monetary extent of the scheme.”
In the document, Mr Abbas said returning to Nigeria after his sentence would be his undoing, pointing out that his role in the indictment of the suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP, Abba Kyari, which precipitated the downfall of Nigeria’s most-celebrated police officer, has put him at grave risk of being harmed should he return after serving out his sentence in a U.S. correctional facility.
Abbas is looking at spending 11 years in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a multinational conspiracy that earned him millions of dollars between 2019 and 2020.
