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Dubai Police extradite Hushpuppi, Woodberry to United States
BY NICHOLAS ABE
The police in Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE), have extradited two Nigerians, Raymond Igbalode Abbas (alias, Hushpuppi) and Olalekan Jacob Ponle (alias Woodberry) arrested in Dubai for alleged cybercrime, to the United States of America.
The two men had been on list of FBI high profile wanted persons list for cybercrime and money laundering.
Hushpuppi and Woodberry extradition was revealed in a commendation letter sent to the Dubai Police by the FBI. Details of the letter is currently on the Dubai Police official Facebook page.
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christopher Wray praised the exceptional efforts exerted by the United Arab Emirate, represented by the Dubai Police General HQ, in combating transnational organised cybercrime, including the recent arrest of Hushpuppi and Woodberry in operation code-named Fox Hunt 2.
Mr Wray also extended his appreciations to Dubai Police for their cooperation in “extraditing the wanted criminals, who committed money-laundering and multiple cybercrimes”, to the United States.
The Dubai Police had arrested the two wanted “fraudsters” along with 10 other gang members.
READ: Hushpuppi: How he stole $435.6 million, captured by Dubai police
The operation took down the suspects for committing crimes outside the UAE, including money-laundering, cyber fraud, hacking, criminal impersonation, scamming individuals, banking fraud and identity theft.
The suspects were caught in a series of synchronised raids by six SWAT teams from Dubai Police who foiled the gang’s bid to deceive many people from around the world and steal their money.
The director of Dubai CID, Brigadier Jamal Salem Al Jallaf said the raid resulted in the confiscation of incriminating documents of a planned fraud on a global scale worth AED 1.6 billion ($435 million).
“The team also seized more than AED 150 million ($40.9 million) in cash, 13 luxury cars with an estimated value of AED 25 million ($6.8 million) obtained from fraud crimes, and confiscated 21 computer devices, 47 smartphones, 15 memory sticks, five hard disks containing 119,580 fraud files as well as addresses of 1,926,400 victims”, he said.
After conducting further investigations and analysing confiscated electronic devices, Dubai Police investigators uncovered sensitive information mined by the suspects on individuals and companies overseas, including bank accounts and fake credit cards as well as documents and files.