FBI alleges Hushpuppi attempted to dupe English club of £100m

The alleged international fraudster, Ramon Abbas aka Ray Hushpuppi, made his first court appearance in the United States on Friday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in an affidavit deposed to by its Special Agent, Andre Innocenti, alleged that Hushpuppi, who was extradited to the U.S from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this week, attempted to dupe an English Premier League side of £100m (N48.4bn).

The suspect, the FBI said, is facing charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering among others.

It alleged that Hushpuppi and others also committed a Business Email Comprise scam that defrauded a client of a New York-based law firm of approximately $922,857 (N350.6m) in October 2019.

READ ALSO: ALLEGED CYBER FRAUD: Dubai Police hand over Hushpuppi to FBI

According to FBI, the suspect, 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 he controlled together with his partners in crime.

The agency added that Hushpuppi risks 20 years prison sentence if convicted on the charges.

The affidavit read: “Abbas and others further conspired to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from other fraudulent schemes and computer intrusions, including one scheme to steal £100 million (approximately $124 million) from an English Premier League soccer club.”

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