The $41 Million Instagram Scammer

Bad influencer: Ramon “Hushpuppi” Abbas, a former Lagos street hawker turned Instagram star turned swindler, has pleaded guilty to trying to illegally relieve a Qatar businessman who wanted to fund a children’s school of more than $1 million—and has admitted to much, much more fraudulent activity. Abbas, 37, was arrested in June 2020 in Dubai, where he lived and apparently devoted much of his time to Instagram-posting and money-laundering.

“Nearly $41 million in cash and 13 luxury cars valued at about $6.8 million were seized at his Dubai apartment along with evidence that pointed to nearly two million victims,” most of them in the United States, reported The Times of London. “The FBI described Abbas as one of the world’s most high-profile money launderers. He admitted scams included conning $14.7 million out of a bank in Malta and $7.7 million from companies linked to an unnamed Premier League football club. Luxury goods were flaunted on Abbas’s Instagram account, but selfies with his cars in far-flung locations were ultimately used by the FBI to build its case.”