The United States Attorney’s Office at the Central District of California says that Ramon Abbas, aka, Hushpuppi, will be sentenced in October 2021.
The court’s Director of Media Relations, Thom Mrozek, disclosed this to one of our correspondents in an emailed enquiry on Friday.
Hushpuppi has recently pleaded guilty to various offences bordering on internet scam and money laundering, among others.
The court also confirmed that it ordered the FBI to arrest Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari, for his alleged role in a $1m scam allegedly perpetrated by Hushpuppi and five others.
“A U.S. Magistrate Judge has issued arrest warrants for the defendants in the case, including Mr Kyari. This is standard operating procedure in nearly all of the criminal cases filed by this office.
“Hushpuppi is currently scheduled to be sentenced in late October,” Mrozek stated.
The court official, however, did not disclose whether Kyari must be in court with Hushpuppi by late October.
In a plea agreement document sighted by The PUNCH, Hushpuppi has since pleaded guilty to money laundering and internet fraud-related charges.
The document was signed by Hushpuppi; his lawyer, Loius Shapiro; and Acting United States Attorney, Tracy Wilkison, among others.
Meanwhile, the Coalition of Public Interests Lawyers and Advocate has said that Kyari’s indictment is an embarrassment to Nigeria, the Muhammadu Buhari-led regime and the Nigeria Police Force.
The coalition, while claiming that Kyari is no longer fit to remain the head of the Police unit, faulted the decision by the NPF to investigative him, asking that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Police Service Commission, should take over the investigation.
The COPA said this in a statement issued on Friday by its National Coordinator, Pelumi Olajengbesi, and titled, ‘The Indictment of DCP Abba Kyari by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation Over Allegations of Fraud and Abuse of Police Powers.’
The group said, “Therefore, that the continuous retention of Mr. Abba Kyari as the head of Inspector General of Police’ Intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police Force is no longer tenable, pending the conclusion of an independent investigation into the extent of his guilt, complicity or the lack thereof in the damning revelations made against his person and office by self-confessed internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas, aka, Hushpuppi.”
