Hushpuppi faces 20 years in American jail if found guilty

American authorities have finally filed charges against Hushpuppi (Ramon Olorunwa Abbas) and others for fraud and cybercrime offences.

The affidavit filed by the FBI alleges that Hushpuppi and others committed a BEC scheme that defrauded a client of a New York-based law firm out of approximately GHS 5.3 Million ($922,857) in October 2019.

Hushpuppi and co-conspirators allegedly tricked one of the law firm’s paralegals into wiring money intended for the client’s real estate refinancing to a bank account that was controlled by Abbas and the co-conspirators.

The affidavit also alleges that Hushpuppi conspired to launder funds stolen in a GHS 85.4 Million ($14.7 million) cyber-heist from a foreign financial institution in February 2019, in which the stolen money was sent to bank accounts around the world.

Hushpuppi allegedly provided a co-conspirator with two bank accounts in Europe that Abbas anticipated each would receive GHS 32.7 million (€5 million) of the fraudulently obtained funds.

Hushpuppi and others further conspired to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from other fraudulent schemes and computer intrusions, including one scheme to steal GHS 725 million (£100 million) from an English Premier League soccer club, the complaint alleges.

If convicted of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, Hushpuppi would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.