Wednesday, April 24, 2024

U.S. Court orders FBI to arrest, detain Abba Kyari over Hushpuppi multimillion-dollar fraud

Judge Wright’s permission for the FBI to arrest Mr Kyari and hold him in U.S. custody was unsealed on July 26.

• July 29, 2021
Abba Kyari
Abba Kyari

A warrant of arrest has been issued for Nigeria’s police commissioner Abba Kyari, Peoples Gazette can report based on court documents.

Otis Wright of the United States District Court for the Central District of California ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to track down Mr Kyari and produce him in the United States for his role in a multi-million dollar fraud perpetrated by Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas, a notorious Nigerian fraudster.

Mr Abbas was arrested in Dubai last June and he pleaded guilty to fraud in the U.S. this week. The FBI said Messrs Abbas and Kyari have been friends and were both involved in a conspiracy to launder money. 

Mr Kyari was also indicted for receiving bribes from Mr Abbas to arrest a member of the syndicate in Nigeria. 

American prosecutors first sought a court warrant to arrest Mr Kyari on February 12, 2021, according to court documents seen by The Gazette. Another warrant was requested on April 29, 2021.

Judge Wright’s permission for the FBI to arrest Mr Kyari and hold him in U.S. custody was unsealed on July 26. 

Mr Kyari in a hurried statement denied allegations of conspiracy with Hushpuppi, saying he only met him two years ago and did not benefit financially from the fraudster.

It was not immediately clear whether or not an extradition request has been filed for Mr Kyari. Attorney-General Abubakar Malami did not immediately return a request seeking comments from The Gazette.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Tanzania national grid

Africa

Tanzania shuts down five hydro stations to reduce excess power on national grid

This is the first time the country will be shutting its hydroelectric stations over excess production.

Queue at filling station

Abuja

Fuel Scarcity: Motorists lament as long queues resurface in FCT

They appealed to the federal government to resolve whatever the issues were.

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)

Heading 1

NEMA urges early preparedness for disaster management

“These were accompanied by economic, agriculture, and livelihood losses,” she said.

Plateau governor, Caleb Mutfwang

NationWide

Plateau governor calls for stronger Nigeria-U.S. collaboration to tackle insecurity

The governor was part of a delegation of the Nigerian governors participating in the event.

NationWide

Discrimination: Owners of Chinese supermarket have responded to our summons, says FCCPC

The agency assured that it will continue to provide updates as the investigation progresses.

Civil servants (Photo credit: Business day)

Heading 4

Association proposes N350,000 minimum wage for workers

“Nigeria must transcend the concept of a mere minimum wage to embrace the notion of a living wage.