Ramon Olorunwa Abbas (Hushpuppi)

About Ramon Olorunwa Abbas (Hushpuppi)

Luxury watches and designer bags flooded his Instagram feed when Ramon Olorunwa Abbas was at his peak. The Dubai-based Nigerian, known to millions as Hushpuppi, posted pictures of himself boarding helicopters, standing beside celebrities, and flaunting clothes from Gucci, Fendi and Louis Vuitton. But behind the glittering posts lay something far darker.

Abbas was born on October 11, 1982. He built his online persona as a real estate mogul, claiming to develop properties across continents. His Instagram followers grew as he shared images of luxury cars, expensive watches, and trips on charter jets with footballers and Nigerian politicians.

The truth caught up with him in June 2020. Dubai Police arrested Abbas at the Palazzo Versace in an operation code-named Fox Hunt 2. Detectives raided his apartment simultaneously with operations against Young Chainz, Logic, Ziko and Olalekan Ponle.

What they found was staggering. Officers seized more than 150 million dirhams, roughly $40 million in cash. They impounded 13 luxury cars worth 25 million dirhams—about $7 million. Investigators recovered 21 laptops, 47 smartphones, and other devices used to orchestrate his schemes.

Abbas's crimes were extensive. He conspired to launder money stolen through business email compromise frauds. One scheme defrauded a US law firm of approximately $40 million. He illegally transferred $14.7 million from a foreign financial institution. He targeted an English Premier League club, attempting to steal $124 million from the organization.

His documentation was fraudulent too. Abbas held a passport from St Kitts and Nevis, obtained through a sham marriage to a citizen of that nation. The document allowed him to move between countries while conducting his operations.

After extradition to the United States, Abbas faced justice. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for conspiracy to launder money. His estimated net worth became unknown as authorities seized his assets. The influencer who once captivated Nigeria with displays of wealth now sits in a federal prison cell, his empire dismantled and his legacy reduced to a cautionary tale.