In a handwritten letter obtained by Peoples Gazette and addressed to Mr Wright and filed on Friday at the United States District for the Central District of California, Mr Abbas noted his humble beginnings as a salesman. “I started business over 25 years ago, trading and selling sneakers and clothing in our then neighbourhood and went from selling clothes out of my car trunk to owning my own boutique across my city and beyond under my company, MONEABBAS NIG LTD,” Mr Abbas wrote.
In the four-part letter, obtained by Peoples Gazette, Mr Abbas said he joined Instagram in 2012 to share his style online. He noted that his business had gotten successful and had expanded into “luxury fashion, real estate, automobile sales and entertainment deals.”
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Checks by The Gazette showed Hushpuppi registered Moneabbas Nigeria Ltd on August 4, 2016, with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission.
In April 2021, Mr Abbas pleaded guilty to multimillion-dollar fraud charges and entered a plea bargain with the U.S. authorities in July 2021. Intelligence agencies recorded multiple crimes, including money laundering, cyber fraud, hacking, criminal impersonation, scamming individuals, banking fraud and identity theft committed outside the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Abbas has been in custody since his arrest in Dubai and transfer to the United States in June 2020. In the letter, Mr Abbas claimed he was tortured at the time of his arrest, and he has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to it. He apologised to the federal judge for his crimes, saying he would use his personal funds to pay the victims.
Hushpuppi had hoped to reduce his impending jail sentence from 11 years as suggested by prosecutors.
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