Hushpuppi ‘Ramon Olorunwa Abbas’ the embattled Nigerian socialite, has agreed to plead guilty to the money laundering charge against him.
BizWatch Nigeria recalls that Hushpuppi, who is known for his luxury lifestyle, was arrested in the UAE in June 2020 alongside 11 of his associates over allegations bordering on hacking, impersonation, scamming, banking fraud, and identity theft.
The social media figure’s extradition to the US had followed after the UAE police detailed his arrest in a special operation dubbed ‘Fox Hunt 2’ where he was accused of defrauding 1.9 million victims to the tune of ₦168 billion.
Hushpuppi was arraigned and detained at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago ahead of his trial.
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In the court file signed by Loius Shapiro, Hushpuppi’s lawyer, on behalf of the defendant, Hushpuppi agreed to give up the right to indictment by a grand jury and plead guilty to count two of the charges “Case No. 2:20-CR-00322-ODW.”
The referenced court case, it is understood, charges Hushpuppi with “conspiracy to engage in money laundering.”
Hushpuppi risks a statutory maximum of 20 years imprisonment on agreeing to violate the USC, Section 1956 (h).
“The defendant understands that the statutory maximum sentence that the Court can impose for a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h), as charged in the Information, is: 20 years imprisonment,” the file read.
“…a 3-year period of supervised release; a fine of $500,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the
offense, whichever is greatest; and a mandatory special assessment of $100.
“Defendant understands that defendant will be required to pay full restitution to the victim(s) of the offense to which defendant is pleading guilty.
“Defendant agrees that the court may order restitution to persons other than the victim(s) of the offenses to which defendant is pleading guilty and in amounts greater than those alleged in the count.”
The date of the plea hearing is however yet to be known.
