Hushpuppi dumps US top lawyer after court transferred his case from Chicago to California

Nigerian Instagram celebrity, Ramoni Abass popularly known as Hushpuppi facing criminal charged in the United States has dumped the top Chicago-based lawyer he hired as his attorney following the transfer of his case to another district.

The 37-yr-old alleged fraudster has now settled for a government lawyer.

Hushpuppi was arrested in June over money laundering allegations. He was extradited to the U.S on July 3.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nigerian resident in Dubai and known for flaunting extravagant lifestyle on social media was part of a network that made “hundreds of millions of dollars” from business email compromise frauds and other scams.

The FBI also said the Instagram celebrity funded his extravagant lifestyle with stolen money.

Hushpuppi loved the good life (Instagram) Hushpuppi loved the good life (Instagram) Pulse Nigeria

However, upon his extradition to the US, Hushpuppi hired Gal Pissetzky, a top lawyer renowned for handling criminal cases in Chicago.

Pissetzky had argued that Hushpuppi sourced his money from promoting designer products on social media and a real estate investment.

But following the transfer of his case from Chicago to the Central District of California for prosecution, Hushpuppi has been left with no choice than to dump Pissetzky and settle for the US government lawyer, Premium Times reports.

The online newspaper reports that Hushpuppi has already been transferred to California for prosecution.

After refusing to retain Pissetzky as his attorney, the alleged fraudster was reported to have requested that a court-appointed counsel be assigned to him.

If convicted, Hushpuppi would get a minimum sentence of 20 years in a U.S. prison.