Hushpuppi pleads guilty to “conspiracy to engage in money laundering”

Nigerian Instagram celebrity Ramon Abass AKA ‘Hushpuppi’ pleads guilty to count two against a US court, a conspiracy to engage in money laundering, according to a document BBC Pidgin reviewed and confirmed to a lawyer.

“The defendant agrees to appear and plead guilty to count two of information in the United States v. Ramon Olorunwa Abbas case, case no. 2: 20-CR-00322-ODW, we accuses the defendant of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, contrary to 18 USC § 1956 (h). ” Di tok court document.

According to the court document we released, Hushpuppi has reached an agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California (USAO).

And the disagreement is limited to the USAO and does not commit any federal, state, local, or foreign authorities in matters of prosecution, enforcement, administration, or regulation.

BBC Pidgin contacted Hushpuppi’s lawyer Loius Shapiro to confirm if my client really is not pleading guilty and his response tells him not to comment on the cases he is dealing with.

Regarding weda if say document wey dey circulate na true, oga Shapiro answer say;

“Yes, that seems to be correct. “

Some oda wey hushpuppi chords are made according to the document;

Hushpuppi faced up to 20 years in prison upon sentencing, according to the court document.

“The defendant understands that the maximum statutory penalty may be imposed by the court for violating Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1956 (h), charged with a term of imprisonment of 20 years,”

“Three-year supervised release period; a fine of $ 500,000 or double the gross gain or the gross loss resulting from an offense, whichever is greater; and a mandatory special contribution of $ 100. “

The court document adds that the defendant needs to understand, that the defendant is required to pay full restitution to the victim (s) of the offense to which the defendant has pleaded guilty.

E also agree to say in return for the compliance of the USAO with dia obligations under the agreement, di compensation for the court adjustment order to pesin other than the victim (s) di offenses wey im pleads guilty to and for amounts wey dey greater than those alleged for di count to which e pleads guilty.

“In particular, the defendant undertakes to say that the court ordered restitution to any victim of any of the following for any loss suffered by the victim as a result of …” adds the document.

UAE security agencies have arrested Hushpuppi who live in Dubai for June 2020, the main accuser said he plans to raise millions of dollars via the Commercial Email Compromise (BEC), yahoo-yahoo and oda mago-mago.

An American law firm, a foreign bank and an English Premier League club are targeted.

For July 2020, the UAE later extradited Hushpuppi to Chicago to America in the custody of FBI special agents with the first carry am go tribunal.

During the detention hearing, the Northern District Court of Illinois, United States, ruled that transportation by US Marshals Service Hushpuppi to Los Angeles with the trial begins.

For the pre-trial, Ramon Abass don bin pleaded not guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, international money laundering and the crime of oda .

Previously, experts told BBC Pidgin that if the court found Hushpuppi guilty of the indictment, he would face a maximum jail term of at least 20 years for federal prison.