Gal Pissetzky, counsel for alleged international fraudster, Ramon Abbas known as Hushpuppi, has said his client was illegally taken to the United States.
Pissetzky of Pissetzky & Berliner alleged that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) kidnapped his client from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates in the name of extradition.
The Chicago-based lawyer argued that the Dubai Police should have extradited Abbas to Nigeria as a citizen of the country and not to the US, adding that the UAE has no extradition treaty with the US, BBC reports.
Read Also: Hushpuppi And Woodberry Extradited To US
Speaking on Friday, he said;
In my opinion, the FBI and the government here acted illegally when they kidnapped him (Hushpuppi) from Dubai without any legal process to do so. There was no extradition, there were no legal steps taken, there were no court documents filed, it was simply a call to the FBI.
He is not a citizen of the United States, the US had absolutely no authority to take him. If Dubai wanted to expel him, they should have expelled him back to Nigeria. I have never heard of anything like that. That is the real story here.
However, a spokesman for the US Department of Justice told the BBC that Hushpuppi was expelled from Dubai and was not extradited but did not state how he ended up in US custody.
It would be recalled that the Dubai police in a social media post said the FBI thanked them for arresting and extraditing the suspected fraudster.
#News | FBI thanks Dubai Police for arresting and extraditing “Hushpuppi” and “Woodberry”
Details:https://t.co/1fZijfahcH#YourSecurityOurHappiness#SmartSecureTogether pic.twitter.com/SflotWAHOA
— Dubai Policeشرطة دبي (@DubaiPoliceHQ) July 2, 2020
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) spokesman in an email to BBC responded to this saying; “You will have to ask them about why they called it an extradition.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accuses Abbas, 37, of conspiring to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from frauds known as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and other scams.
MDB had earlier reported that the 37-year-old was arrested in Dubai last month alongside 12 other members of his crew, including Olalekan Jacob Ponle ‘Woodberry’ who is to also face trial in the US.
The Dubai Police said it discovered that fraud amounting to 1.6 billion Dirham (N168 billion) had been committed by the gang and documents showing that they have defrauded 1,926,400 people from different parts of the world.
According to the police, 13 luxury cars, estimated at 35 million Dirham (N3.7 billion) were recovered from the house where they were arrested.
The Dubai Police later handed Abbas and his conspirators over to the FBI and they had since been arraigned on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, among others.
The FBI also alleged that Hushpuppi attempted to dupe an English Premier League football club of over £100m (N48.4bn).
The allegation is contained in an affidavit deposed to by FBI Special Agent, Andre Innocenti, who is assigned to the Los Angeles Field Office Hi-Tech Organised Crime Squad.
The FBI further stated that should Hushpuppi be convicted, he risks spending 20 years in jail.
However Hushpuppi’s legal representative thinks otherwise, saying he is planning a ‘vigorous defence’ to free his client when the US court handling the matter resumes hearing on Monday.
