The United States Attorney General’s office, has debunked the news making rounds about fresh allegations of $400,000 fraud allegedly perpetrated from detention by Abbas Ramon, also known as Hushpuppi. court document
Thom Mrozek, Director of Media Relations, United States Attorney’s Office (Los Angeles), disassociated both the Attorney-general’s office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from the fresh allegations against the Instagram celebrity.
After an extensive review of the alleged $400,000 fraud document, its authenticity was questionable. The document lacked the usual heading that provides basic details such as the name of the court where the document is filed, the parties, the suit number, and the title of the filing. This called for further probe into the allegations and Mr. Mrozek was contacted.
Responding to an e-mail inquiry, Mr. Mrozek, the spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney-general’s office in Los Angeles, described the document which has gone viral as “fake”. Mr. Mrozek, after conducting an extensive investigation within the U.S. justice system, noted that both Mr. Innocenti and the Attorney-general’s office denied any knowledge of the document.
“After looking at the document excerpted in recent media accounts, the document appears to have been fabricated”, Mrozek said.
The official further said “The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, which filed the case against Mr. Abbas, has not filed any such document. We have checked with the FBI agent who supposedly authored the document, and he confirms it is a fake”.
That notwithstanding, the office of the lawyer to Mr. Abass, also denied knowledge of the filing of the document. The document was also not found in the court’s docket accessed through online channels.
Meanwhile, according to one Nigerian journalist, Alao Abiodun, the fake documents were released with the intent of promoting the EIP website, which was mentioned in the fake documents as the website Hushpuppi used to commit the alleged $400,000 fraud.
“The story on US prosecutors submitting court documents showing that Hushpuppi laundered over $400,000 while in prison is not TRUE. The document is an edited version of a June 2020 affidavit. This trending version is intended to get people to visit scammer EIP website”.
Alao Abiodun
Details of ‘Fake’ Court Document
The content of the document, which claims to have “new information involving Abbas”, had what appeared to be investigative details.
It purportedly accused the former Instagram celebrity of committing fresh credit card fraud from detention, abusing the opportunity given to all prison inmates in the U.S. for “access to phone calls, the Internet and computers with limited and regulated usage”.
“Recorded international activities (reviewed pursuant to a federal search warrant issued in this district) of Abbas in the US Federal correctional facility, Central District of California, reflect that Abbas purchased Economic Impact Payment (EIP) debit cards and laundered the proceeds totaling over $400,000”, the document stated.
The document also paraded names like Mr. Innocenti’s and that of a magistrate-judge of a District Court of Central California, Rozella A. Oliver, which featured in documents previously filed in Hushpuppi’s pending case.
Hushpuppi, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering charge at the same court, is awaiting sentencing slated for July 11.
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