The Instagram scammer – Who is Hushpuppi?

Africa Daily

This week Ramon “Hushpuppi” Abbas, the notorious Nigerian fraudster, was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison in the US.

He pleaded guilty to money laundering and other cyber crimes that cost his victims more than $24 million in losses.

He had many aliases, but he was best known as Hushpuppi.

He also liked to refer to himself as the “Billionaire Gucci Master”, alluding to his acclaimed wealth and love for designer goods.

He styled himself as a man who went from humble beginnings to a life of unimaginable wealth.

From the slum he was born in in Lagos, to the ostentatious lifestyle of his later years in Dubai, he seemed to have it all.

But it was all a lie.

All the cars, mansions and designer goods had all been bought with money he scammed from people.

And it all came crumbling down after his arrest in June 2020 in Dubai.

Today, Alan Kasujja is looking at the fast rise and spectacular fall of a man the FBI called one “of the world's most high-profile fraudsters”.

He's been speaking to the BBC’s Princess Abumere in Lagos, who's been following the Hushpupppi story from the beginning.