US Court Postpones Hushpuppi Sentencing For Fourth Time

For the fourth time this year, the United States Attorney’s Office for Central District of California, Los Angeles, has postponed the sentencing date for alleged international internet fraudster Ramon Abbas, aka, Hushpuppi.

An official of the court’s Media Relations Unit, Ciaran McEvoy, made this known on Tuesday in response to an email inquiry by Channels Television.

“Abbas’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 3 at 10 a.m. Los Angeles time/6 p.m. Lagos time,” the official wrote.

Since Hushpuppi’s conviction last year for alleged $1.1m fraud, the court has moved his sentence date at least four times. Hushpuppi was initially scheduled for sentencing on February 14 but it was moved to July 11 and to September 21 before it was postponed to November 3 this year.

Hushpuppi, 39, had entered a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to charges including money laundering, and wire fraud, amongst others brought against him by the court.

According to court documents, he risks “20 years’ imprisonment; a 3-year period of supervised release; a fine of $500,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offence”.

He was arrested in Dubai in June 2020 alongside 12 others and extradited to the US for prosecution.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had indicted suspended Head of Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team, DCP Abba Kyari, in the Hushpuppi case but Kyari had denied the fraud allegations.

Kyari was later arrested by the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in February for alleged drug-related offences. The NDLEA has since arraigned the suspended deputy police commissioner.

Remanded at the Kuje prison in Abuja, Kyari and his co-defendants hope to get bail before Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court in Abuja.