Abba Alhaji Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, has been accused of collecting a bribe from embattled social media celebrity, Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi.
The Police chief risks about 20 years imprisonment over alleged money laundering if found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.
In a court document released by the United States Department of Justice on Wednesday, titled: ‘Six Indicted in International Scheme to Defraud Qatari School Founder and then Launder over $1 Million in Illicit Proceeds’, Kyari was said to have been bribed to arrest one Kelly Chibuzor Vincent, 40, in Nigeria, who created bogus documents and arranged for the creation of a fake bank website and phone banking line to support the defrauding of a business person trying to provide $1.1m for the funding of a school in Qatar.
Vincent was said to have contacted the businessman following a disagreement between him, Hushpuppi and other members of the syndicate to expose the deal.
However, angered by his move, Hushpuppi allegedly ordered Kyari to arrest him in Nigeria and lock him up.
Kyari, after arresting and locking up Vincent, allegedly sent photos as confirmation to Hushpuppi, who allegedly sent the police officer some money via a provided bank account number.
The 46-year-old now risks a 20-year jail term if declared guilty by the court.
“A criminal complaint and an indictment contain allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Both conspiracy counts alleged in the indictment carry a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year prison term,” US court document revealed.
Further findings revealed that Kyari allegedly conspired with Hushpuppi to:
“a. conduct and attempt to conduct financial transactions, affecting interstate and foreign commerce…
b. to transport, transmit, and transfer funds from a place in the United States to a place outside in the financial transactions represented the proceeds of the some form of unlawful activity — namely, wire fraud, in violation of Title 18…
c. to engage and attempt to engage in monetary transactions involving criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000, affecting interstate and foreign commerce…,” extracts from the US court document reveal.
