‘Billionaire Gucci Master’ busted! Instagram influencer Hushpuppi flaunted his luxury life of bling in Dubai, but now the Rolls-Royce-loving Nigerian is heading to prison for money laundering millions

Nov 9 , 2022

Ramon Abbas – better known as Hushpuppi – frequently posed with luxury cars in designer clothes before he was exposed for money laundering. Photo: @hushpuppi__/Instagram

From loud Louis Vuitton shirts to Bentleys, Rolls Royces and luxury Dubai penthouses, the ‘Billionaire Gucci Master’ was living his best life – until he was arrested in 2020

Now Hushpuppi – real name Ramon Abbas – has been ordered to pay almost US$2 million in restitution to his victims as’ one of the most prolific money launderers in the world’

After high-profile scams by Simon Leviev, Anna Delvey and Elizabeth Holmes comes another crime committed by a man who wasn’t what he seemed.

A Nigerian social media influencer who called himself Ray Hushpuppi was sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison on Monday, November 7, in Los Angeles. He was known for flaunting a lavish lifestyle – which turned out to be fuelled by his efforts to launder millions of stolen dollars.

Here’s everything you need to know about the drama.

Hushpuppi has been ordered to pay US$1.7 million to his victims

From luxury watches to OTT Dubai penthouses, Hushpuppi splurged other people’s money, then posted the swag he bought on his social media. Photo: @hushpuppi__/Instagram

Ramon Abbas, 40, was also ordered by a federal judge to pay US$1.7 million in restitution to two fraud victims, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice.

Sometimes known as the “Billionaire Gucci Master”, Abbas was “one of the most prolific money launderers in the world”, Don Alway, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said in the statement.

Ramon Abbas’ private jet and Rolls-Royce lifestyle was a far cry from his upbringing in a poor part of Lagos. Photo: @hushpuppi/Instagram

Prosecutors said Abbas and a Canadian man laundered money from various online crimes including bank cyber-heists and business email compromise, or BEC, a prolific crime in which crooks hack into email accounts, pretend to be someone they’re not, and fool victims into wiring money where it doesn’t belong.

He was in cahoots with North Korean hackers

Hushpuppi, aka Ramon Abbas, even conned a Qatari out of US$15 million they’d borrowed to build a school. Photo: @hushpuppi/Instagram

In 2019, Abbas helped launder some US$14.7 million stolen by North Korean hackers from a bank in Malta, funnelling the money through banks in Romania and Bulgaria, prosecutors said.