The journalist who broke the news about the arrest of Ray Hushpuppi, Kemi Olunloyo, has now alleged that Russians played a major role in the apprehension of the suspected Internet fraudster.
Hushpuppi who Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has described as the most wanted hacker, was arrested in Palazzo Hotel in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates with several of his associates.
Kemi Olunloyo in a YouTube live session alleged that some Russians who are associates of Hushpuppi reported him to their government after he defrauded them of over $60 million, a largesse they were supposed to share from the COVID-19 hacking scam they jointly carried out.
She claimed that Hushpuppi refused to send the Russians their share of the largesse and the consequence of that led to the Russians tipping off their governments to join the Interpol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, in a covert operation that led to his arrest.
Another major revelation she made was that Hushpuppi must have spent about seven days in American detention. She profusely dismissed mainstream media report that Hushpuppi was still been held in Dubai. According to her, Hushpuppi was immediately transferred to the United States via a private jet. According to her,
It should be noted that PageOne.ng cannot independently verify or authenticate any part of her revelations or claims.
However, her claims and revelations were materially-different from the official positions of the law enforcement authorities in Dubai.
Last Wednesday, authorities in Dubai confirmed the arrest of Ray Hushpuppi. Referred to as Raymond Abbas in Dubai, he was arrested alongside his associates on the 10th of June.
According to National UAE, a major news website in the Emirates, said prosecutors in Dubai said, Ramoni Igbalode also known as Raymond Igbalodely but known as Raymond Abbas in Dubai was referred to the Dubai public prosecution and is currently being questioned by prosecutors at the Bur Dubai section.
Dubai prosecutors said they have charged him for “obtaining money from others through fraudulent means.”
Security officers in the emirate arrested Mr Abbas and 12 others for online fraud that targets companies and individuals.
“They would send out letters from email addresses almost identical to those of legitimate companies, targeting customers of these companies, with the purpose of diverting payments to themselves,” said a senior prosecutor.
“Initial information includes that he was part of this gang which fraudulently obtained cash and cars from people.
“His statement was taken by the prosecution but this is just the beginning of prosecution investigations,” the statement said.
If the latest confirmation is anything to go by, it means the UAE alongside the Interpol must have liquidated Hushpuppi’s alleged Internet fraud ring.
Apart from prosecutors in Dubai who are Ben on prosecuting him, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has confirmed that they will be prosecuting Hushpuppi for his many alleged fraudulent crimes.
While not admitting the specific whereabouts of Hushpuppi, last Friday, the EFCC said in a statement by its spokesperson that:
“Nigerian most-wanted hacker, Ramoni Igbalode, alias Ray Hushpuppi, recently arrested by the International Police and the FBI, has considerable cases of cyber crimes being investigated by the EFCC.
“The commission is familiar with grisly details of his money laundering transactions, involving many high-profile cybercriminals facing trial in Nigeria.
“The commission is engaging with the FBI in tracing victims of his fraudulent transactions and other fraudsters having direct involvement with him. Local cyber criminals with money laundering networks with him are also being investigated,”
“Hushpuppi was arrested on Wednesday, June 10, 2020 in United Arab Emirates in connection with $35million ventilator scam,” the statement said.
Huspuppi whose real name is Ramoni Igbalode (aka Raymond Igbalodely), has been based in Dubai for close to 10 years.
While the most popular associate who was known to have been arrested in the crackdown was Woodberry. There are indications that many more people were part of the suspects arrested in the Interpol and FBI raid. It is not clear who the sixth associate of Hushpuppi was during the arrest.
After the arrest of Hushpuppi, Kemi Olunloyo claimed that she knows the identities of Hushpuppi’s associates who were arrested with him.
In a Twitter post, Kemi said:
“Pac” is another Dubai based big boy and in HushPuppi’s close knit inner circle. He was arrested alongside HP. Flashy luxurious items on IG page. Real name not known. Authorities will release later.”
“Sean the Escaper was also arrested and he’s HushPuppi’s PA. He is described as a right hand man errand boy. They live together at Palazzo Versace in Dubai.”
“Mr Woodberry was arrested alongside HushPuppi as a member of his hardworking team.”
“Finally Tony Roma nickname who is also a Nigerian and also arrested with the rest of the team. All 5 men are being held at an Interpol facility in Dubai city,” she said.
Out of all the suspects arrested with Hushpuppi, Woodberry is perhaps another high profile person. He was known to be stupendously rich without a visible source of his wealth. Unlike Hushpuppi, Woodberry is less open with his wealth. However, in March of 2019, he announced that he acquired a twin collection of 2019 edition of Lamborghini Urus at over $200,000 and the 2019 Rolls Royce black badge dawn.
According to the unconfirmed charges by the Interpol, Hushpuppi’s Internet fraud gang will be tried for an Internet fraudulent acts that exploited COVID-19 benefits to scam the American government by diverting the benefits from the unemployed victims. The report alleged that the gang must have stolen over $35 million in unemployed benefits.
