Photo and video sharing social networking service, Instagram, says international fraudster, Hushpuppi, is free to continue using his social media account as he does not represent dangerous organisations or individuals.
Hushpuppi (born Ramon Abbas) is currently being held in the United States for financial offences bordering on wire fraud to which he has pleaded guilty and faces a 20-year jail term if convicted.
Read Also: Hushpuppi Pleads Guilty To Money Laundering Charge, Faces Up To 20 Years In Prison
The social media influencer lived a life of luxury in Dubai – in a multi-million dollar money laundering empire – always flaunted his expensive lifestyle on his 2.5 million followers-Instagram account.
He used the social media platform to show his largesse, sharing photos of extravagant shopping trips, luxury cars, clothes, and watches.
Hushpuppi owned a fleet of luxury cars, including a Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maybach.
Read Also: Hushpuppi, Woodberry And Others Allegedly Arrested By Interpol In Dubai
At the time of his arrest in 2020, security agencies uncovered almost $41 million in cash and 13 cars valued at about $6.8 million.
The 37-year-old swindler later pleaded guilty to crimes that netted profits of over $24 million from his victims and was arrested in a high-profile swoop by police at his luxury hotel apartment at the Palazzo Versace on Dubai Creek.
Read Also: Hushpuppi Laundered Funds For North Korean Hackers, Says US Department Of Justice
United States Attorney’s Office at the Central District of California says that Hushpuppi will be sentenced in late October 2021.
According to ThePunch, the court’s Director of Media Relations, Thom Mrozek, disclosed this, adding that FBI has been ordered to arrest Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari, for his alleged role in a $1m scam allegedly perpetrated by Hushpuppi and five others.
Instagram, responding to an inquiry by Dubai-based The National, said the Nigerian fraudster, is free to continue using his social media account as he did not violate the social media platform’s laws.
The social media giant said it has well-established processes with law enforcement and a policy on “inmate takedown requests” in place for prisoners active on social media.
Hushpippi has not posted on Instagram since June 2020, but the company’s global team said he would be free to continue to use the site unless directed otherwise from law enforcement in the US, where he is awaiting sentencing.
Instagram added that accounts are only usually closed if they represent dangerous organisations or individuals. Hushpuppi does not fall under the categories which would validate account removal.
Despite his crimes, he remains free to post snippets of his new life behind bars from his Instagram account should he have access to a mobile device or computer.
In one of his scams, he attempted to steal more than $1.1 million from a wealthy benefactor who wanted to fund a children’s school in Qatar.
Facilitating his arrest in 2020, Dubai Police said it discovered that fraud amounting to 1.6 billion Dirham (N168bn) had been committed by the gang.
No fewer than 1,926,400 people from different parts of the world were also said to have fallen victims to the suspects.
According to the Dubai police, 13 luxury cars, estimated at 35 million Dirham (N3.7bn) were recovered from the house where they were arrested.
Dubai Police later handed Hushpuppi and his conspirators over to Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in the United States.
Further evidence in phone and computer records contained more than 100,000 fraudulent files and the email addresses of nearly two million possible victims.
Facebook uses both human reviewers and sophisticated technology across all of its apps to detect, remove and prevent the promotion of misinformation.
Inmate accounts are disabled when a prison provides Facebook with legal authority banning a prisoner’s access to social media or the internet, or if the prison submits facts suggesting there is a real-world safety risk.
