As a fall out of the burning allegation against him, Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari has denied receiving a bribe from a Nigerian Instagram celebrity, Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi.
Reacting to the trending news in a statement on his verified Facebook page Abba Kyari said his hands are clean.
According to Kyari, nobody demanded money from the embattled Instagram influencer, stating that the focus of the police was to save people’s lives that were purportedly threatened.
Kyari explained that Hushpuppi had informed the police that somebody in Nigeria was threatening to kill his family. He added that the social media celebrity, who was based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before his incarceration, also sent the suspect’s phone number, urging the police to act fast to save his family.
Hushpuppi pleads guilty to Internet fraud could get 20 years in jail
He however said the suspect was allowed to go after investigation showed they were long time friends with disagreements over money. Kyari insisted that he did not demand a dime from Hushuppi, saying the only time they had discussions about money was when the fraudster demanded to know who sews his native clothes and caps, adding that after linking both party, Hushpuppi sent N300,000 for five sets of attires.
Kyari said the clothes and caps were delivered to his office after which someone collected them for Hushpuppi. He urged anyone interested in further pursuing the matter to contact Vincent for confirmation.
He urged his supporters to remain calm, stating that those working towards damaging his reputation would be disgraced.
The statement reads in part, “For those who are celebrating that this is an indictment on us and mentioning some fictitious big money, They will be disappointed once again as our hands are clean and our record of service for two decades is open for everybody to see. They will continue seeing us serving our fatherland and we will continue responding to ALL distress calls from ALL Nigerians provided they are life threatening.
“For good Nigerians who appreciate our service, please don’t worry as our hands are clean and they should please not respond to those celebrating and creating many false narratives without any evidence. We are used to such types of people and false newsmakers and distributors,” he said.
Court documents said Mr. Abbas admitted to laundering money and also orchestrated fraudulent attacks on a Premier League club, an American law firm, a UK law firm and other schemes as well as carefully recruiting North Korean state-sponsored hackers to collaborate his fraudulent schemes.
The fraud was part of a business email compromise scheme that targeted several businesses across the world, with many of the victims being from the U.S.
The Instagram celebrity exhibited his luxurious designer lifestyle on social media claiming to be a real estate developer.
He reportedly stole about $40 million from a U.S. law firm.
He nearly conned an unnamed Premier League club of $124 million.
To avoid a lengthy trial, Mr Abbas entered a plea deal with the U.S. prosecutors in Central California on July 4, 2021 and it was sealed on July 27, 2021.
