Hushpuppi

By Nehru Odeh

Here are 20 facts about billionaire fraudster, Ramon Abass, aka Hushpuppi, that are not in the public domain. Hushpuppi , who is currently facing trial in California for cyber-crimes was arrested in his Dubai apartment on 10 June, 2020 and extradited to the United States. He was denied bail recently.

1. He was born in a bungalow built in a space now used for car wash.

2. He grew up at Oworonsoki area of Lagos.

3. He lived at No. 9 Ogunyomi street, Oworosoki before he hit it big.

4. He roamed the streets of Oworonsoki looking for cars to wash for the paltry sum of N100.

5. He always bought bread on credit at Mama Dele’s Buka in his neighbourhood.

6. He often bought sardines, noodles on credit from other women down the street.

7. He was always using a motor-cycle, popularly called okada, to sell “akube” to boys that were making cheddars in different hotels in Lagos mainland.

8. He shared shoes, toiletries, mats and underwear with his younger ones.

9. He always took showers in a zinc sheet bathroom separated from the building.

10. His mother used to send him and his siblings to neighbours and relatives to beg for food.

11. A landlord once chased him and his family out of a rented room because his parents couldn’t pay the rent.

12. His dad drove a taxi

13.  His mum sold bread by the roadside in Oworonsoki

14. He started the advance fee fraud, known in the local parlance as Yahoo-Yahoo, at No. 9 Ogunyomi Street in Oworonsoki.

15. When he started, he did it hit big initially, as he could only afford sneakers and low cost wristwatches.

16. But when he hit it big, the first thing he bought was gold because he thought he could resell the gold and make huge profit from it.

17. Then he disappeared and after a while he came back a changed man and paid Mama Dele for all the foods he bought on credit. He also gave her money to make catfish pepper soup for him and his friends.

18. On 5 May 2017, he posted Letter to the Ghetto kid on Instagram, which was an instant hit and liked by 65, 725 people.

19. During his most recent and last visit, sometime in 2018, he gifted Mama Dele N5,000 .

20. Mama Dele described him as “someone who doesn’t like making trouble, and was never a thief.”

Credit: These facts were sourced from The Cable and Hushpuppi’s Letter to the Ghetto Kid.