The government of St. Kitts and Nevis entangled with a Nigerian Fraudster
Ramon Olorunwa Abbas of Nigeria, popularly known as “Ray Hushpuppi”, spilled to the FBI about his involvement with government officials to gain citizenship in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and how they allegedly conspired with him to commit fraud.
A fake marriage certificate was presented to “Hushpuppi” allegedly through a former bailiff in collaboration with a key government official on the island of St. Kitts. It appears the bailiff may have just been the middleman between the government official and “Ray Hushpuppi”.
Hushpuppi’s passport was seized at his Dubai residence on June 9, 2020, when he was arrested by the officers of the Dubai Police Department. It was later handed over to the FBI on July 2, 2020.
According to a United States district court for the Central District of California, the Nigerian fraudster claimed he acquired his citizen to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis via marriage and paid US$50,000.00 for his passport. He received the passport in February of 2020.
What is interesting is that citizens of the Federation pay EC$250 to obtain their passports following the regular process. However, if they desire to have it expedited for emergency purposes it would cost EC$350, EC$100 extra. However, Hushpuppi stated that he paid US$50,000.
The marriage certificate shows Mr. Abbas married a young lady named Shawana Nakeisha Chapman, 32. Ms. Chapman is supposedly the daughter of the bailiff in question. In the court document it outlined “On October 16, 2019, Coconspirator 4 provided Abbas with her personal identifying information, including her full name, date of birth, occupation, address, father’s occupation (bailiff) to use in the marriage certificate. Coconspirator 4 further told Abbas to backdate the marriage certificate to October 2018.”
The document went on to outline the negotiation that took place between Hushpuppi and the Coconspirator regarding the cost of the passport. Hushpuppi was able to negotiate the cost down from a possible US$65,000 to US$50,000.00. He informed the Coconspirator that the amount would be paid in both cashier’s check (US$40,000) and cash (US$10,000).
Hushpuppi was then instructed by the Coconspirator on how the cash payment was to be made, according to the court document “On February 7, 2020, Coconspirator 4 instructed Abbas to pay the remaining US$10,000 to another person, instead of her father, using a George United Credit Union Account”.
The government of St. Kitts and Nevis did confirm that Mr. Abbas (Hushpuppi) is a citizen of the Federation following his arrest back in 2020, but the details of the passport acquisition have only recently been revealed.
This is yet another accusation of corruption among government officials in St. Kitts and Nevis. Last year (2020), two Ministers of Government, Hon. Lindsay Grant and Hon. Jonel Powell were both found guilty of misappropriating a client's funds.
Liz Myke
Reporter
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