Abba Kyari operates death squad in Nigeria – Hushpuppi tells US court

Ilesanmi AdekanbiSeptember 8, 2022

3 minutes read

A notorious internet fraudster, Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi, has told the United States District Court for the Central District of California that he is at risk of being harmed by suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police DCP, Abba Kyari.

Hushpuppi had in the USA implicated Kyari in a $1.1million wire fraud prompting the American government to request the extradition of Kyari to explain his own side of the story.

In April 2021, a jury in America filed an indictment against Kyari with the approval of the US District Court and demanded that Kyari should stand trial for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft.

Consequently, the American embassy requested Kyari’s extradition saying, “on April 29, 2021, based on the indictment filed by the Grand Jury and with the approval of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, a Deputy Clerk of the court issued a warrant of arrest for Kyari.

“Kyari is the subject of an indictment in case number 2:21-cr-00203 (also referred to as 2:21-mj-00760 and 2:21-cr-00203-rgk), filed April 29, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.”

But Hushpuppi told United States District Court for the Central District of California that he is at risk of being harmed by Kyari, People Gazette reports.

Hushpuppi said his role in the indictment of Mr Kyari, which precipitated the downfall of Nigeria’s most-celebrated police officer, has put him at grave risk and he would not be able to return to Nigeria after serving his sentence in the U.S.

The pleas were outlined in a memorandum he submitted before Judge Otis Wright seeking a downward review of sentencing years demanded by the prosecutors after Hushpuppi pleaded guilty to multimillion-dollar fraud last year.

Louis Shapiro, an American defence attorney hired by Hushpuppi, filed the memorandum on behalf of his client on September 5, per court filing.

The prosecutors have demanded up to 11 years in prison for Hushpuppi, as well as payment of $1.7 million in restitution and $500,000 in fines. A three-year supervised release after completion of the 11-year sentence was also recommended, the filing showed.

The defence, led by Mr Shapiro, countered the request, saying Hushpuppi had become a changed person since he was arrested in Dubai in June 2020, extradited to the U.S. in the same month and remanded in prison ever since. The defence, therefore, asked the court to hand Hushpuppi between 35-41 months in prison.

Mr Wright is expected to hear the matter on September 21 and subsequently determine sentencing duration. “Once this case is resolved and Hushpuppi is released, he will not be able to return to Nigeria,” Mr Shapiro wrote in the counter request.

“Abubakar Kiyari, a Nigerian politician and police commissioner, operates a death squad. Kiyari was indicted in the Juma case by the government’s investigation into this case.”

“Hushpuppi hopes to move his family out of Nigeria when he gets out of prison. The looming threat of Mr Kiyari’s supporters, as well as intense media harassment, has forced his family to continue moving to secret locations within Nigeria.

“They must rent different apartments simultaneously while continuously changing telephone lines. Additionally, his children face the possibility of going through their formative years without their father,” Mr Shapiro added.

Hushpuppi pleaded guilty in April 2021 to charges of Internet fraud, and money laundering, among others. The FBI indicted Mr Kyari as part of the syndicate at about the same time. Mr Kyari, hitherto Nigeria’s most famous and decorated police officer, was immediately suspended as a deputy police commissioner while the extradition process continued from the U.S. side.

Last week, a Nigerian court ruled that Mr Kyari should not be extradited because he was already charged with more grievous crimes of drug trafficking by the Nigerian anti-narcotics authorities.

Source: Peoples Gazette