UAE helps US in indicting fraudster 'Hushpuppi'

The UAE has played a crucial part in helping US officials indict notorious Nigerian online scammer Raymond "Hushpuppi" Abbas in a high-profile money laundering case.

Abbas was nabbed in Dubai last year following a special police operation titled ‘Fox Hunt 2’.

The Nigerian national, along with five others, have been caught for their role in an elaborate scheme to defraud a Qatari school founder and launder the proceeds through bank accounts around the world.

According to Acting US Attorney Tract L. Wilkison, the "defendants allegedly faked the financing of a Qatari school by playing the roles of bank officials" and created "a bogus website in a scheme that also bribed a foreign official to keep the elaborate pretense going after the victim was tipped off.

"Abbas, who played a significant role in the scheme, funded his luxurious lifestyle by laundering illicit proceeds generated by con artists who use increasingly sophisticated means."

Hamid Al Zaabi, Director-General of the UAE's Executive Office of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing, said the case "will act as a landmark for the effectiveness of multinational collaboration. While led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the UAE law enforcement community played a strategic role in the apprehension of the defendants."

According to the US penal code, both conspiracy counts alleged in the indictment carry a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison while aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year prison term.