Hushpuppi indicted again as US accuses him of laundering money for North Korean hackers

Instagram Influencer, Ramon Olorunwa Abass better known as Hushpuppi has been fingered in another cyber fraud involving him and North Korean hackers.

According to the United State of America’s Department of Justice, Hushpuppi, who is currently facing money laundering and wire fraud charges in the country took part in a “North Korean-perpetrated cyber-enabled heist from a Maltese bank” in February 2019.

In a fresh document released by the US Justice Department on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, the internet celebrity was accused of laundering money for North Korean hackers.

He was said to have conspired with one Ghaleb Alaumary, a Canadian-American, who organized teams of co-conspirators in the United States and Canada to launder millions of dollars obtained through ATM cash-out operations.

The document reads in part, “Alaumary was a prolific money launderer for hackers engaged in ATM cash-out schemes, cyber-enabled bank heists, business email compromise (BEC) schemes, and other online fraud schemes. Alaumary is also being prosecuted for his involvement in a separate BEC scheme by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia.

“With respect to the North Korean co-conspirators’ activities, Alaumary organised teams of co-conspirators in the United States and Canada to launder millions of dollars obtained through ATM cash-out operations, including from BankIslami and a bank in India in 2018.

“Alaumary also conspired with Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, aka ‘Ray Hushpuppi’, and others to launder funds from a North Korean-perpetrated cyber-enabled heist from a Maltese bank in February 2019.

“Last summer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles charged Abbas in a separate case, alleging that he conspired to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from BEC frauds and other scams.”

In June 2020, Hushuppi was arrested in Dubai by special operatives, including the Emerati police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

In July, he was extradited to Chicago in the U.S. where he was first arraigned.