Ramon Abbas, a Nigerian Instagram celebrity, also known as ‘Hushpuppi’ pleaded guilty of his involvement in a conspiracy to defraud a Qatari businessman of more than $1 million, reported CNN quoting the US Justice Department.

37-year-old Abbas admitted to money laundering “through bank accounts around the world,” including “several other cyber and business email compromise schemes that cumulatively caused more than $24 million in losses,” the statement released Wednesday added.

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The court said he pleaded guilty to the charges on April 20 but the documents were released on Wednesday. In June 2020, UAE police raided his Dubai apartment and arrested him.

The Dubai Police found $41 million in cash, 13 luxury cars and phone and computer evidence containing more than 100,000 fraud files during the raid.

Another Nigerian resident Olalekan Jacob Ponle aka ‘Woodberry’ was arrested in the joint operation with United States agents.

The Dubai Police handed over Abbas to FBI agents and he was later transferred to Los Angeles, where he faced trial on charges of money laundering through cybercrime schemes.

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According to the documents released by the court, Abbas and his accomplice posed as bank officials, created a fake website to convince a Qatari businessman to finance a school. 

They succeeded in defrauding the businessman of $1.1m. He used half of the stolen money to buy a Richard Mille RM11-03 watch and he posted about it on social media.

Abbas loved spending lavishly and claimed to be a real estate developer. He was famous for tossing wads of cash and flaunting his Rolls Royces, luxury watches, and designer clothing on Instagram to his more than two million followers.

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Abbas faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced.