The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US has disclosed how it identified and nailed Nigeria’s Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, as one of the co-conspirators of Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpuppi.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, Abba Kyari, a high-ranking Nigerian police officer who has received multiple honours, was one of six people indicted over an elaborate scheme to defraud a Qatari businessperson of more than $1 million, masterminded by celebrity fraudster, Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas.
The FBI revealed this in an affidavit issued before the United States District Court by a Special Agent with the FBI, Andrew John Innocenti.
The FBI said that Kyari abandoned his duties in Nigeria sometime in 2019 and flew to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to “enjoy a good time” with Hushpuppi, who lived at Palazzo Versace in the Emirate commercial capital.
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The FBI special agent said Hushpuppi appeared to have first interacted with Mr Kyari during the police officer’s trip to Dubai in September 2019.
He said conversations between them showed that Hushpuppi sent a car and a driver to drive Mr Kyari around in Dubai.
“Soon thereafter, KYARI sent ABBAS a video slideshow which showed some personal photographs of KYARI, some of which appeared to have been taken in the U.A.E,” Mr Innocenti added.
He said further that later in September “after KYARI sent ABBAS an article that discussed him arresting alleged kidnappers, ABBAS wrote, in part, to KYARI, ‘Am really happy to be ur boy,’ and later, ‘I promise to be a good boy to u sir’.”
The affidavit showed that the police boss, using the phone number +234909999****, sent Hushpuppi a photograph of him sitting at a desk in his office on September 8, 2019.
The affidavit reads: “For example, using the phone number +234909999****—which ABBAS had saved as ‘ABBA KYARI’—KYARI sent ABBAS photograph, on September 8, 2019.”
The FBI agent added in the affidavit that Kyari sent Abbas ‘Hushpuppi’ a link to an article in the Nigerian publication ‘The Independent’ describing how he was being honoured by the House of Representatives.
The FBI adds in the affidavit: “Using the phone number +234812000***—which ABBAS had saved as ‘ABBA KYARI NEW NUMB’— KYARI sent several images of himself to ABBAS in April and May 2020.”
FBI Special Agent, Innocenti, said in the court documents: “I reviewed online articles about KYARI, which indicated that KYARI is an Inspector General of the Police’s Intelligence Response Team and a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Nigeria. KYARI previously managed the Special Anti- Robbery Squad, commonly known as SARS, as the Officer-In-Charge for several years. Articles referred to KYARI as a ‘super cop’ of the Nigeria Police Force, and described him as ‘The Most Decorated Officer In The History Of The Nigerian Police.’
“KYARI has been awarded many accolades, including recognition for his performance by the Nigerian House of Representatives in June 2020, which KYARI informed ABBAS of via the news article discussed above.
“I also reviewed other articles, from October and November 2020, which indicated that KYARI had been accused of falsely arresting and extorting a businessman in Lagos. Based on those articles, KYARI’s work, in general, appears to have related primarily to kidnapping cases, and I did not see any articles suggesting that KYARI worked on fraud cases.
“Finally, I have reviewed a certified NIV application submitted by ABBA ALHAJI KYARI, in April 2019. This application included one of the aforementioned phone numbers (0909999****) that KYARI used to communicate with ABBAS, as well as a date of birth in March of 1975, and KYARI’s Nigerian passport number ending in 3677.
“Based on messages I reviewed, ABBAS appears to have first interacted with KYARI in September 2019, when KYARI travelled to the U.A.E. The conversation indicated that ABBAS sent a car and driver to drive KYARI during that trip. Soon thereafter, KYARI sent ABBAS a video slideshow which showed some personal photographs of KYARI, some of which appeared to have been taken in the U.A.E. Later in September, after KYARI sent ABBAS an article that discussed him arresting alleged kidnappers, ABBAS wrote, in part, to KYARI, ‘Am really happy to be ur boy,’ and later, ‘I promise to be a good boy to u, sir,'” the affidavit read.
Otis Wright of the United States District Court for the Central District of California ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to arrest Abba Kyari and produce him in the United States for his alleged role in a $1.1 million fraud.
US court documents showed that American prosecutors first sought a court warrant to arrest Kyari on February 12, 2021.
Another warrant was requested on April 29, 2021.
It was further gathered that Judge Wright’s permission for the FBI to arrest Kyari and hold him in US custody was unsealed on July 26, 2021.
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