Nigerians got the shock of their lives when their very own celebrity crack detective, Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, got entangled in a fraudulent $1 million scheme involving disgraced internet scammer, Ramon Abbas, a.k.a. Hushpuppi.
From available court documents, The Street Journal understands that Hushpuppi had connived with five other persons to defraud a Qataris school owner of $1 million.
They posed as bank consultants from Wells Fargo and deceived the victim, saying they could help him obtain a loan to embark on a school construction project.
It wasn’t too long that trouble broke out among the six of them and Abba Kyari got entangled when Hushpuppi paid him a huge sum of money to arrest one of the fraudsters.
According to the documents, Kyari also allegedly sent Hushpuppi bank account details into which Hushpuppi could deposit payment for the arrest.
The Journey as Analyzed by Channels TV…
In October 2019, a businessperson started looking for an investor who could provide a $15 million loan to build an international school in Qatar.
By November, the businessperson was on a plane to Kenya, to meet a potential facilitator – Abdulrahman Juma, a 28-year-old parading as the ‘Chairman’ and ‘Funding Officer’ of Westload Financial Solutions Limited.
Juma was able to convince the businessperson to sign a contract that mandated the payment of a $225,000 consultancy fee before the loan could be disbursed.
Of course, there was no loan. But the businessperson didn’t know that at the time.
After the businessperson wired a first tranche of $164,450, Juma provided a forged document showing a wire transfer of $15 million from a Barclays Bank account in the United Kingdom to the businessperson’s bank account in Qatar, according to documents from the US Department of Justice.
When the businessperson reached out to the bank to confirm the funds, there was no $15 million. The businessperson contacted Juma, who said the businessperson had to pay another “payment of release order” to release the funds.
In early December, the businessperson wired another $150,000, hoping that would be the final payment for the release of the $15 million. The businessperson was wrong.
On December 7, 2019, Juma reached out to Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi, an Instagram celebrity who took pictures with expensive cars and watches and wrote motivational captions before his July 2020 arrest in Dubai.
Juma and Hushpuppi, apparently, belonged to a global fraud syndicate that has fleeced numerous individuals and organisations of millions of dollars.
In July, Hushpuppi pleaded guilty to multiple counts of money laundering before a US Federal Court and now faces up to 20 years in jail.
The December 2019 conversation, too, revolved around how they could siphon more money off the businessperson seeking a $15 million loan.
Hushpuppi told Juma that he would pretend to be a Bank Director – with the moniker Malik – when communicating with the businessperson. The duo agreed on profit sharing and Hushpuppi created a new Whatsapp account, using an American phone number.
A photo of Mr Abdulrahman Juma. Credit: US Department of Justice
A photo of Mr Abdulrahman Juma. Credit: US Department of Justice
Texting the businessperson, Hushpuppi introduced himself as Malik, “the director of the bank responsible for crediting you the funds” working with “Mr Rahman (Juma) from Kenya.”
Juma and Hushpuppi shared, with each other, screenshots of their messages with the businessperson, as the conversations progressed.
To begin to tempt the businessperson to part with more money, Hushpuppi said there was a need to open a bank account in the United States, to transfer the $15 million loan because Qatar had apparently been sanctioned by the US government.
The initial agreement was that the funds will then be credited from the US account to the businessperson’s bank account in London.
Apparently, Hushpuppi had a ‘white guy’ from America call the businessperson to boost the legitimacy of the scheme. The businessperson “is so happy”, Hushpuppi reported to Juma.
Using the resources at his disposal, Hushpuppi created a fictitious business name statement (carrying the name of the businessperson’s company) in the US. He then used the business name to open a bank account, in the name of the businessperson’s company.
He was also able to generate a ‘Durable Power of Attorney’ form. Fraudulent, of course.
On December 20, Hushpuppi sent the account and online login of the Canoga Park Wells Fargo account to the businessperson, who must have felt, once again, that the loan was palpable.
But when the businessperson sent Hushpuppi the information for a UK bank account where the loan funds should be deposited, the latter balked.
Hushpuppi told the businessperson that it would not work to send funds to a “personal account” in the UK. Instead, the businessperson should open an investor’s account with his own private banking service.
To open the account, Hushpuppi said, the businessperson would have to fund it with a minimum of 250,000 pounds.
At this point, the businessperson started to smell a rat. But the allure of imminent victory was too strong.
On December 23, after some back and forth between Juma and Hushpuppi, (the former apparently wasn’t convinced that it was the right time to ask for more money) the businessperson agreed to open the investor’s account.
Vincent Chibuzor in the picture
On January 4, 2020, Vincent Chibuzo, another of Hushpuppi’s associates, sent the Instagram celebrity a message containing a “telephone banking” number.
This will “blow the client’s mind,” Chibuzo said in his message to Hushpuppi.
The next plan had been to create a fake Wells Fargo bank website and a fake banking automated telephone number that could deceive the businessperson that, indeed, the promised funds had been deposited into the Canoga Park Wells Fargo account Hushpuppi had opened for the Qatar business.
When the “telephone banking” information was eventually sent to the businessperson, it was so convincing that the businessperson wrote back to Hushpuppi: “OMG, I can’t believe it, it’s true.”
After calling the businessperson, Juma sent Hushpuppi a voice note.
The businessperson “can’t breathe,” he said.
The businessperson “is really excited.”
The businessperson “is crying tears of joy.”
The businessperson “is thanking me.”
In response, Hushpuppi said, “Are you proud of me or not? It’s a perfect job, bro.”
After raising the businessperson’s hopes, Hushpuppi reached out and claimed there was a need to pay a tax of $575,000 to have the loan cleared.
“Sorry but this is too much,” the businessperson replied.
The next day, the businessperson contacted Juma, asking him to find a way to avoid paying the $575,000 tax. Juma sent screenshots of this conversation to Hushpuppi.
On January 10, Hushpuppi and Juma discussed reducing the amount the businessperson should be asked to pay. Later, they communed on how to stop the businessperson from flying to the UK to confirm that there were funds in the purported Wells Fargo account.
Juma said he had told the businessperson to keep things quiet, and to not tell anyone or ask anyone about the status of the loan.
On January 13, the businessperson agreed to pay $440,000 in taxes.
Abba Kyari steps in…
The saying that ‘there is no honour among thieves’ began to manifest among the Hushpuppi syndicate.
First, Juma was able to secure $299,983.58 from the businessperson, perhaps as part of the tax payments. But he refused to share it with Hushpuppi because he (Juma) had not received a share from the earlier $330,000 sent by the businessperson.
Then Chibuzo, who was based in Nigeria at the time, accused Hushpuppi of not paying for the work that was being done on the fake Wells Fargo website.
As a way to get back at Hushpuppi, Chibuzo contacted the businessperson directly and, claiming he was “trying to help”, said Hushpuppi was a scammer.
When Hushpuppi got wind of Chibuzo’s actions, he was livid. “I will deal with him,” he told Juma.
Hushpuppi reached out to Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner in the Nigeria Police Force, and sent him Chibuzo’s phone number.
In one text to Chibuzo, Hushpuppi said in pidgin: “I swear with my life that you will regret messing with me, you will even wish you died before my hands will touch you.”
Kyari has, however, maintained innocence.