Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI) has hailed the extradition of busted Nigerian internet celebrity, Raymond Abbas, known as ‘Hushpuppi’ and his close associate, Olalekan Ponle, also known as Woodberry, to the United States by the Dubai police over allegations of fraud.
According to allegations, they have defrauded about two million people around the world.
Appreciating Dubai police for the role it played in ensuring the arrest of Hushpuppi and his gang, Christopher Wray, FBI Director tweeted:“I thank the exceptional efforts (of Dubai Police) in fighting organised cyber crimes and arresting Hushpuppi and Woodbery.”
Hushpuppi and and Woodberry who are wanted for fraud in Europe, the US, and Nigeria have been extradited to the US state of Pennsylvania after week of their arrest.
In June, the Dubai Police had arrested Hushpuppi, and Woodberry, along with ten African cybercriminals in a special operation dubbed “Fox Hunt 2”.
The operation took down the suspects for committing crimes outside the UAE, including money-laundering, cyber fraud, hacking, criminal impersonating, scamming individuals, banking fraud and identity theft.
The suspects were caught in a series of synchronised raids by six SWAT teams from Dubai Police who foiled the gang’s bid to deceive many people from around the world and steal their money.
The director of Dubai CID, Brigadier Jamal Salem Al Jallaf said the raid resulted in confiscating incriminating documents of a planned fraud on a global scale worth AED 1.6 billion ($ 435 million).
Out of all the suspects arrested with Hushpuppi, Woodberry is perhaps another high profile person. He was known to be stupendously rich without a visible source of his wealth.
Woodberry is less open with his wealth. However, in March of 2019, he announced that he acquired a twin collection of 2019 edition of Lamborghini Urus at over $200,000 and the 2019 Rolls Royce black badge dawn.
