A prominent Nigerian Instagram celebrity facing wire fraud charges in the United States, Ramoni Abbas (popularly known as Hushpuppi) has settled for a government lawyer after his case has been moved to another district.
Mr Abbas, 37 years old, who resided in Dubai and is known for boasting an extravagant lifestyle on social media, was arrested last month on allegations of money laundering. He was extradited to the United States on July 3rd.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation had previously claimed that Mr. Abbas was part of a network that created “hundreds of millions of dollars” in business email compromise fraud and other scams.
The U.S. government also said that Mr. Abbas financed his extravagant lifestyle with stolen money.
It was reported earlier that Mr. Abbas hired a senior U.S. lawyer, Gal Pissetzky, from the Pissetzky & Berlin law firm as his counsel.
Mr. Pissetzky, famous for handling criminal cases in Chicago, argued that his client was getting his money from promoting designer products on social media and real estate investment.
It should be remembered that the Chicago court refused him bail on Monday and ordered that he remained in prison until his next trial date later in the year.
However, documents showed that Mr Abbas’s case has been transferred to the Central District of California for prosecution.
American prosecutors had earlier said Mr Abbas would still be transferred to Los Angeles, a city in California.
During the detention hearing on Monday, the government orally renewed its motion for removal in custody and the government’s oral motion was granted.
“Accordingly, Defendant is ordered removed to the Central District of California in the custody of the U.S. Marshal forthwith. As provided by 18 U.S.C. § 3142(f), Defendant is remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal and shall remain in custody until further order of the Court,” Justice Gilbert ruled.
Transfer documents signed by Thomas G. Bruton, Clerk of the U.S. Court in Chicago, suggested that Mr. Abbas had been moved on Tuesday.
In addition, in a letter of commitment sent to California, Mr. Abbas refused to keep Mr. Pissetzky as his attorney. Rather, he asked that a court-appointed counsel be assigned to him.
If convicted, Mr. Abbas would be sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in U.S. federal prison.
