Back in the days before the internet, money laundering involves concealing the origin of the money, by converting it to a legitimate source of income, with the perpetrator staying quiet about it.
Having committed a crime, money launderer tended to avoid suspicion by also concealing their personal life.
But when the internet and social media come into play, things are very much the opposite.
Money launderer can actually flaunt the wealth they gained from illicit activities, and feel like they have nothing to lose.
Ramon Abbas is sentenced by a California judge to 135 months and ordered to pay in excess of $1.7 million to two fraud victims.
Abbas who is known to his massive amount of followers as Ray Hushpuppi, is an Instagram influencer who frequently use the platform to boast his lavish lifestyle, which was funded by his crime spree.
Hushpuppi, a Nigerian national, was transferred to the U.S., after he was arrested in 2020 by the Dubai police during a raid on his home at Palazzo Versace, in an operation dubbed Operation Fox Hunt 2.
Hushpuppi pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering in April 2021, having targeted American and international victims with online scams.
According to Don Alway, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, he described the 40-year-old online celebrity as "one of the most prolific money launderers in the world".
He used his "considerable following" of around 2.8 million on Instagram to "brag about the immense wealth he acquired by conducting business email compromise scams, online bank heists, and other cyber-enabled fraud".
Due to his crime, some of his victims were left "financially ruined."
To manage his huge crime operation, Hushpuppi conspired with convicted Canadian money launderer, Ghaleb Alaumary.
Alway said that Hushpuppi's operation allegedly provided assistance to the North Korean regime.
This happened back in 2019, when both Abbas and Alaumary conspired to offer to launder $14.7 million stolen by North Korean hackers in a Maltese bank cyberheist, directing the amount through accounts in Romania and Bulgaria.
This is also why the U.S. has also charged three North Korean hackers in connection with Hushpuppi.
Other crimes he committed, included inducing a New York law firm to transfer more than $922,000 to a fellow conspirator's account under someone else's name, and attempting to defraud an individual in Qatar who wanted a $15 million loan to build a school.
Among others, his biggest was when he tried to scam $100 million dollars from a Premier League club in May of 2019.
The methods Abbas used, include business email compromise, or BEC, which is a prolific crime in which he hacked into email accounts, pretend to be someone they are not to fool victims into wiring money where it does not belong.
"By his own admission, during just an 18-month period defendant conspired to launder over $300 million,” the prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum, although they said much of the intended loss "did not ultimately materialize."
Ramon Abbas used his Instagram account to flaunt a luxurious lifestyle that has been funded by crime.
The items he showed off, included a life full of luxury, complete with ultra-expensive cars, private jets, designer clothes and watches.
"I hope someday I will be inspiring more young people to join me on this path," read one Instagram post by Abbas, who pleaded guilty in April 2021 to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
Hushpuppi who claimed to be a real estate developer, is a holder of passport from St Kitts and Nevis, which was apparently obtained through a sham marriage to a St. Kitts and Nevis citizen.
"Abbas bragged on social media about his lavish lifestyle - a lifestyle funded by his involvement in transnational fraud and money laundering conspiracies targeting victims around the world," said U.S. attorney Martin Estrada.
"Money laundering and business email compromise scams are a massive international crime problem, and we will continue to work with our law enforcement and international partners to identify and prosecute those involved, wherever they may be."
Whereas Abbas gets a135 years of prison time, his accomplice, Alaumary is serving a 140-month prison sentence and has been ordered to pay more than $30 million after admitting conspiracy to engage in money laundering in November 2020.
The sentence indicates that Alaumary held a more central role in the schemes, being the primary recipient of the stolen funds.
As financial crime has become more complex, and financial intelligence has become more recognized in combating international crime and terrorism, money laundering has become more prominent in political, economic, and legal debate.
When Abbas was arrested at his home, the police seized more than 150 million dirham (about $40 million) in cash, 13 luxury cars worth 25 million dirham ($7 million), 21 laptops, 47 smartphones, 15 memory storage devices, five external hard drives and 800,000 emails of potential victims alongside suitcases full of cash.
Abbas was arrested following an investigation that indicted him as being a "key player" in a transnational cybercrime network that provided "safe havens for stolen money around the world."
Before he received his sentence, Hushpuppi wrote a personal letter to the court narrating his source of wealth, criminal adventure and regrets. He also apologized to his family for bringing them shame while praising the FBI for doing a good job while bringing him to justice
Besides Alaumary, Hushpuppi also identified a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Nigeria, Abba Kyari, as another of his accomplice in one of his scam, which was worth $1.1 million.
This led to FBI created an warrant to arrest Kyari.