Nigerian ‘Gucci Billionaire Master’ Linked To BOV Cyber Attack Denied Bail In Chicago
Nigerian influencer and social media mogul Ramon Abbas (aka “Hushpuppi”) was denied bail in Chicago earlier this week and will remain detained until he goes to trial for a number of money laundering allegations linked to Bank of Valletta’s cyber attack last year.
Hushpuppi appeared in front of a detention hearing in Illinois on Monday where it was decided that the 2.5 million followers strong Instagram star would be transported to Los Angeles for trial later this year.
“The Billionaire Gucci Master” was also denied bail on the premise that he was a flight risk due to his ties with foreign countries, holding foreign passports and his access to large amounts of money.
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During the hearing, Hushpuppi’s lawyer repeatedly rejected allegations made against his client by the FBI’s affidavit posted earlier this month, the same affidavit which claimed that Hushpuppi stole $14.7m or €13m from a foreign financial institution in a major cyber-heist in February last year…
… that bank is highly suspected to be Bank of Valletta which went through a very similar ordeal at the same time last year.
He is also suspected of robbing money from a Premier league football team and a US law firm.
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“He is loved and respected. He is a celebrity. He would not want to ruin his credibility and status rather than stay here and face these allegations,” said Abbas’ lawyer Gal Pissetzky.
“Mr Abbas is an Instagram personality. A social media personality. Of course he poses with high-price items because that’s what he gets paid to do. That’s what he has built. From growing up very poor in Nigeria, he was able to develop himself into this very well-known personality with millions of followers on Instagram.”
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Bank of Valletta was robbed of €13 million when it was hacked in February 2019, with reports alleging that the hacker group EmpireMonkey had broken into the Maltese bank’s system after posing as the French stock market regulator.
In May 2019, BOV said it had managed to recover €10 million of the stolen money and expects to recover most of the remainder.
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