Hushpuppi: US court picks new sentencing date after extradition of Kenyan co-conspirator

The US Central District Court in California has fixed November 7 to sentence the convicted Nigerian fraudster Ramon Abbas aka Hushpuppi.

The 39-year-old, who was arrested in Dubai, UAE in June 2020 and flown to the US, has since pleaded guilty to multi-million-dollar fraud charges.

Premium Times said it obtained court documents showing the trial judge, Otis Wright, has fixed November 7 as the date to sentence Hushpuppi.

“COUNSEL ARE NOTIFIED, the Sentencing is CONTINUED to November 7, 2022 at 11:30 a.m. as to Defendant Ramon Olorunwa Abbas,” the court’s announcement shifting the sentencing read.

Hushpuppi’s sentencing has been rescheduled three times since his conviction last year. He was first scheduled for sentencing on February 14 then it was moved to July 11. Later, the court fixed September 21 and now November 7.

The court’s latest decision came after Hushpuppi and his lawyer Louis Shapiro successfully convinced the federal judge to delay his sentencing after multiple appeals.

Mr Shapiro argued that Hushpuppi would have been unable to prepare for his sentencing hearing without all the documents relating to the case of a Kenyan businessman Abdulrahman Juma who was extradited to the US for alleged involvement in a fraudulent activity orchestrated by Hushpuppi.

Mr Juma is alleged to be part of an international fraud scheme put together by Hushpuppi to cheat a tycoon seeking to invest in a multimillion project to construct a school in Qatar.

Court documents say that between December 19 and 24, 2019, Hushpuppi and Juma conned the victim into paying $330,000 to fund an investor’s account to facilitate a $15 million loan.