Suspected Nigerian fraudster Ramon Abbas failed to win bail in the US after his lawyers insisted his job as an Instagram celebrity paid for the $10,000 monthly rent on his luxury Dubai flat.
Mr. Abbas, 37, known to millions on social media as Hushpuppi, was arrested in Dubai and lifted to the US.
There they accuse him of laundering millions of dollars from crimes including cyber heists, frauds, and an attempt to cheat an English Premier League club out of £100 million (Dh461.1m/$125.5m).
Mr. Abbas appeared by video in a Chicago court on Thursday, where his lawyers applied for him to leave jail with an electronic tag and live with the uncle of a woman with whom the Instagram star had a child, the court was told.
Prosecutors said he could commit crimes with just a smartphone and an internet connection, and that he posed too much of a flight risk.
Mr. Abbas, who was identified on phone contacts with an alleged conspirator as Billionaire Gucci Master, lived in the five-star Palazzo Versace hotel in Dubai, wore high-end clothing, and posed with luxury cars and private jets.
But Mr. Abbas’s lawyer, Gal Pissetzky, said his client had too much to lose to flee the country.
“He is loved and respected.
a celebrity,” he told a judge in Chicago by video link.
“I don’t see the reason he would want to ruin his credibility in the world
and his status rather than stay here and face this allegation.
“Anywhere he goes, people will know.”
Having grown up very poor in Nigeria, they now pay Mr. Abbas to pose with high-priced items such as Louis Vuitton bags that people would buy after seeing his posts on Instagram, Mr. Pissetzky said.
“He is an influencer,” he said.
“That’s a job today, as much as it is hard to imagine.
That’s a full-time job.”
Judge Jeffrey Gilbert, denied bail for Mr. Abbas, who watched proceedings from a prison video link.
Mr. Gilbert said he was satisfied that Mr. Abbas was a flight risk and he would remain in custody until they take him to a court in California.
“You’ve got to be doing something to pay $10,000 for an apartment in Dubai,” he said.
Olalekan Ajimoti – Blogger, Content Writer, and Digital Marketer helping brands and retailers build 8-figure e-commerce since 2016.
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