Dubai police extradite Hushpuppi to US
Nigerian Instagram scam star, Raymond Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi, has been handed over to the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI by the Dubai Police.
A statement released Thursday by the Dubai Police said Hushpuppi was extradited to the US along with another internet fraud suspect Olalekan Jacob Ponle (aka Woodbery).
Hushpuppi and Woodberry along with ten other alleged cybercriminals were arrested recently in a special operation dubbed “Fox Hunt 2”.
The suspects were caught in a series of synchronised raids by six SWAT teams from Dubai Police who foiled the gang’s bid to deceive many people from around the world and steal their money.
The statement said the FBI thanked Dubai Police for arresting and extraditing Husspuppi and Woodberry.
While praising Dubai Police for their cooperation in extraditing the wanted suspects to the United States, it said FBI Director, Christopher Wray, praised the exceptional efforts of the United Arab Emirate, represented by the Dubai Police General HQ, in combating transnational organised cybercrime.
Quoting the Director of Dubai CID, Brigadier Jamal Salem Al Jallaf, the statement said the raids that led to the arrests resulted in the confiscation of “incriminating documents of a planned fraud on a global scale worth AED 1.6 billion ($ 435 million).”
Brig. Al Jallaf said “The team also seized more than AED 150 million ($40.9 million) in cash, 13 luxury cars with an estimated value of AED 25 million ($6.8 million) obtained from fraud crimes, and confiscated 21 computer devices, 47 smartphones, 15 memory sticks, five hard disks containing 119,580 fraud files as well as addresses of 1,926,400 victims.”
According to the statement, after conducting further investigations and analysing confiscated electronic devices, Dubai Police investigators uncovered sensitive information mined by the suspects on individuals and companies overseas including bank accounts and fake credit cards as well as documents and files.