Suspended Abba Kyari Deletes Facebook Post Claiming He ‘Assisted Hushpuppi To Buy N300,000 Clothes’

By Edna Wande On Aug 4, 2021

Embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, has deleted his infamous Facebook update in which he reacted to his indictment in a US fraud case by claiming that he only assisted serial internet fraudster, Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas, to get N300,000 clothes.

The once-celebrated police officer was indicted in the United States in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain and launder money in partnership with the fraudster who has pleaded guilty to fraud resulting in millions of dollars in losses.

The 46-year-old allegedly granted Hushpuppi’s request to arrest a co-conspirator in Nigeria to clear the path for the fraudster to continue defrauding an unidentified Qatari businessperson of $1.1 million (N583,300,000).

As details of the link between the two hit Nigerian media space on Thursday, July 29, 2021, the police officer denied the allegation, claiming that he was tricked into arresting the co-conspirator over allegations he threatened Hushpuppi’s family.

Kyari also revealed that the suspect was immediately released on bail, but the relationship between the two didn’t end there.

He said Hushpuppi had admired native clothes and caps he saw on his social media page and requested an arrangement for something similar to be made for him for N300,000.

The police officer acted as middleman between the fraudster and the cloth merchant.

However, additional details that emerged after his statement heavily contradicted his claims, with cellphone records extracted from Hushpuppi’s phone showing the two had an extensive relationship.

The US investigators stated that based on a review of the messages shared, it appears that Hushpuppi interacted with Kyari in September 2019, when Kyari traveled to United Arab Emirates.

It added;

The conversation indicated that ABBAS sent a car and driver to drive KYARI during that trip. Soon thereafter, KYARI sent ABBAS a video slideshow which showed some personal photographs of KYARI, some of which appeared to have been taken in the U.A.E. Later in September, after KYARI sent ABBAS an article that discussed him arresting alleged kidnappers, ABBAS wrote, in part, to KYARI, “Am really happy to be ur boy,” and later, “I promise to be a good boy to u sir.”

Also, according to an FBI affidavit, Kyari carried out Hushpuppi’s request and sent photographs of a detained Vincent, as well as account details to receive his monetary reward.

A portion of the extracted cellphone records showed Hushpuppi explicitly told Kyari that Vincent sabotaged a job he was running, and asked that his partner be given ‘serious beating of his life‘.

Kyari alerted Hushpuppi a month later that Vincent had fallen ill in custody, suffering from fever and rashes he got from cellmates.

Hushpuppi later told the officer to release the detainee on February 25, but without his electronic devices, a request Kyari accepted.

The records also showed the police officer provided the account information for a bank account at Zenith Bank, an account not registered in his name.

Hushpuppi in May 2020 sent the police officer receipts for two bank transactions totalling $20,600 (over N8 million) sent to a Nigerian bank account, payments speculated to have been a bribe paid to his team.

FBI said Kyari’s knowing involvement in the scheme allowed Hushpuppi and others to continue defrauding the victim undetected.

Meanwhile, United States’ Court has issued a warrant of arrest for DCP Abba Kyari, over his role in the fraud perpetrated by Hushpuppi.

Otis Wright of United States District Court for Central District of California ordered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to track down Kyari and produce him in the United States.

American prosecutors first sought a court warrant to arrest Kyari on February 12, 2021, according to court documents and another warrant was requested on April 29, 2021.

Judge Wright’s permission for the FBI to arrest Kyariand hold him in U.S. custody was unsealed on July 26.

In latest development, Kyari has deleted the Facebook post explaining his relationship with Hushpuppi, as observed by MDB on Wednesday, August 4.

The post had garnered tens of thousands of reactions, both in his favour and against, and he did not explain why he deleted it.

Last week’s revelations led to Kyari’s suspension amid internal investigations to be conducted by the Police Service Commission, and calls for him to be extradited to the U.S.

He has also been replaced as the Head of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) by DCP Tunji Disu.

The 46-year-old has in the past faced serious allegations of misconduct, but faced no serious investigations.

Other co-conspirators indicted this week are Abdulrahman Juma, Rukayat Motunrayo Fashola, and Bolatito Tawakalitu Agbabiaka.