The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US has disclosed how it identified and nailed Nigeria’s Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, as one of the co-conspirators of Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpuppi.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, Abba Kyari, a high-ranking Nigerian police officer who has received multiple honours, was one of six people indicted over an elaborate scheme to defraud a Qatari businessperson of more than $1 million, masterminded by celebrity fraudster, Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas.
The 6 indicted over scheme to defraud a Qatari businessperson
The FBI revealed this in an affidavit issued before the United States District Court by a Special Agent with the FBI, Andrew John Innocenti.
The FBI said that Kyari abandoned his duties in Nigeria sometime in 2019 and flew to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to “enjoy a good time” with Hushpuppi, who lived at Palazzo Versace in the Emirati commercial capital.
The FBI special agent said Huspuppi appeared to have first interacted with Mr Kyari during the police officer’s trip to Dubai in September 2019.
He said conversations between them showed that Hushpuppi sent a car and a driver to drive Mr Kyari around in Dubai.
“Soon thereafter, KYARI sent ABBAS a video slideshow which showed some personal photographs of KYARI, some of which appeared to have been taken in the U.A.E,” Mr Innocenti added.
He said further that later in September “after KYARI sent ABBAS an article that discussed him arresting alleged kidnappers, ABBAS wrote, in part, to KYARI, ‘Am really happy to be ur boy,’ and later, ‘I promise to be a good boy to u sir’.”
The affidavit showed that the police boss, using the phone number +234909999****, sent Hushpuppi a photograph of him sitting at a desk in his office on September 8, 2019.
The affidavit reads: “For example, using the phone number +234909999****which ABBAS had saved as ‘ABBA KYARI’—KYARI sent ABBAS the following photograph, on September 8, 2019.”
Credit: Foluke Daramola (fb)