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Hushpuppi’s ally, Woodberry pleads guilty to fraud, agrees to settle victims with $8Million

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Olalekan Ponle, better known as Woodberry, has pleaded guilty to a fraud charge at a United States district court, according to report.

The district court for Northern Illinois has set 11 July for his sentencing.

Woodberry is well-known to be an ally of another Nigerian international fraudster, Ramon Abbas, alias Hushpuppi, who was jailed last year.

The two men were arrested for extensive international online scams in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on 10 June 2020, and were flown to the United States to face separate trials.

Hushpuppi, who initially pleaded not guilty, changed his plea to guilty in April 2021, just before a full-blown trial was to begin. The US district court for Central California where prosecutors charged him jailed him for 11 years and ordered him to pay $1.7 million restitution in November 2022.

Hushpuppi gets over 11-year jail term, to pay $1.8 million restitution

Woodberry, accused of defrauding a US company of about $188,000, similarly maintained his innocence for over two years.

He has, however, made a U-turn to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud during a change of plea hearing at the US District Court for Northern Illinois this April, according to court documents.

The judge, Robert Gettleman, accepted the defendant’s change of plea in a ruling delivered on 6 April.

He set 11 July for sentencing after accepting the plea agreement Woodberry entered into with US prosecutors.

The judge referred the case to the Probation Department for a pre-sentence investigation and report, which would guide his decision on the appropriate sentence to impose.

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He gave the US government 60 days before the sentencing date to provide the Probation Office and the courtroom deputy a list of victims and their full current contact information to obtain the court’s order of restitution.

“The list shall include any amounts subject to restitution. If the Government is not able to provide the full victim list 60 days before sentencing, they shall file a motion to request an extension of time to compile the information,” the judge added.

Woodberry and Fraud
In pleading guilty, Woodberry confessed to defrauding a company in New York, identified as “Victim Company B” of almost $188,000 through online scams involving business email comprise schemes.

US prosecutors said starting from January 2019, Ponle and his co-schemers “were engaged in a business email compromise scheme targeting Victim Company B and other companies which resulted in a fraudulent wire of approximately $188,191.50 to a bank account.”

How fraudulent plot was hatched
According to the court filing, the scheme began with one or more of Mr Ponle’s co-schemers gaining unauthorised access to Victim Company B’s email account on or before 16 January 2019.

They hacked into the email account by fraudulently obtaining the account credentials, according to the prosecutors.

“Once access to this email account (“Victim Company B Email Account”) had been accomplished, the co-schemers changed certain security settings in the email account to hide their activity from the actual email account user,” prosecutors said in the plea agreement signed by Woodberry.

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Swiftly, on 16 January 2019, an email was sent from the compromised Victim Company B’s email account to another email account of the company requesting a $188,191.50 payment be made to Victim Company B’s supplier.

The email, according to prosecutors, contained instructions that the money be sent via wire transfer to a bank account which was set up by Whiteberry.

“PONLE knew that he had no right to the money and that the email was intended to defraud Victim Company B into paying money owed to the supplier to an account controlled by PONLE rather than the supplier.

“As a result of the email, approximately $188,191.50 was sent to 8208 account. PONLE acknowledges that the wire was processed through the Federal Reserve System and sent from an account held in New York, New York to an account ending in held in Nashville, Tennessee,” the plea agreement added.

HUSHPUPPI

The document went further to state that on 17 January 2019, Mr Ponle received a message from Individual B informing him that “The money is in”.

It added that Woodberry’s instruction, Individual B converted approximately $119,000 of the proceeds of the fraudulent wire transfer to Bitcoin. “Individual B then sent the Bitcoin to PONLE’s Bitcoin wallet.”

How fraudulent bank account was set up

Woodberry, according to the plea agreement, set up the fraudulent bank account with which he received proceeds of the fraud nine days before he requested payment through Victim Company B’s compromised email account on 16 January 2019.

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The prosecutors say, specifically on 7 January 2019, Mr Ponle, using the alias “Mark Kain,” sent a message from outside the US to “Individual B” asking Individual B to open a bank account in the name of a Victim Company B supplier.

Woodberry was said to have told Individual B to “set up a separate business account just to receive the money.”

Acting at Mr Ponle’s direction, Individual B opened an account under the name “[Individual B] d/b/a [Victim Company B supplier]” and sent the account number, which ended in 8208, and routing number to him, the court filing stated.

On 10 January 2019, he sent a message to Individual B indicating that the wire to the Victim Company B supplier account would be “$188K”.

The prosecutor is pushing for the court to order the defendant to make full restitution in the amount outstanding at the time of sentencing.

The US government last year described w Woodberry’s ally, Hushpuppi as “a prolific international fraudster who conspired to launder tens of millions of dollars through a series of online scams.”

The government said Hushpupi “flaunted his luxurious, crime-funded lifestyle on social media.”

WOODBERRY

His Instagram account, his flagship platform for flaunting his expensive lifestyle, has since been closed at the request of the US government.

 

 

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Hoodlums attack, set police tation ablaze in Anambra

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Hoodlums have attacked and razed the Neni Divisional Police station in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State.

 

Emerging reports suggest that the attackers numbering about thirty stormed the area at about 2am in the morning on Thursday, wreaking havoc on several buildings.

 

The State Police Public Relations officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the hoodlums attacked the police station with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

 

He, however, stated clearly that the hoodlums did not take away any arms or kidnap any police personnel.

 

The police imagemaker further disclosed that the hoodlums were forced to flee after the police operatives subdued them in a superior fire-power adding that tactical operations are still ongoing in the area.

 

Mr Ikenga assured that more updates on the sad incident will be availed to the public in no time.

 

He did not give much details as regards the extent of damages done to the facility.

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Repentant cultists surrender arms in Ogun

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At least 48 repentant cultists in the Sagamu area of Ogun State have surrendered their arms to the Nigeria Police Force and renounced their membership in the various cult groups they belonged to.

The ceremony to profile the repentant cultists and take stock of the arms and ammunition was held at the Palace of the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Adewale Ajayi, in the Sagamu Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday.

Recall that in January two cult groups, Neo Black Movement, popularly called Aye, and the National Association of Airlords, also known as Eiye Confraternity, Sagamu chapter, wrote letters of apologies to the Akarigbo of Remoland, asking him and other traditional rulers in Remoland to forgive them of their wrongdoings.

 

The two groups had, in a viral letter, pleaded for mercy and promised to abide by the laws of the country.

 

While the letter from the Eiye Confraternity was dated December 22, 2023, that of Aye was dated December 26, 2023.

Weapons submitted by the cultists, who have promised to turn a new leaf, include one pump action gun, four double barrels, seven single barrels, two English pistols, four locally made pistols, and 35 cartridges.

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Speaking at the event, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu, said the approach of the police to engage in moral persuasion as a way of curbing the incessant cult crises that have ravaged the part of the state led the cultists to renounce their membership and surrender their arms.

 

Alamutu, while urging the repentant cultists not to go back to their old ways, stressed that the police would also work with the Ogun State government and the traditional rulers to convert them into an Anti-Cultism Vanguard that would preach the dangers of cultism to others still engaged in the act.

 

The CP said, “You will recall that last year, this community witnessed disturbing incidences where cultists were on rampage and disturbing the peace of the community that I had to partially relocate to this community.

 

“It was the persistent nature of this crisis that brought the idea of having a second look and approach to the crisis and we thought of using moral persuasion and engagement to see if we can get results and thank God this is the outcome.

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“By giving them this Olive branch, the idea is for them to turn a new leaf. I have had a closed-door meeting with Kabiyesi on how we can engage these youths. Now that we have convinced them that the right thing to do is hard work, we are going to see how we can assist them to be of use to themselves and be our vanguard so that others will have a reason to embrace peace.”

 

In his reaction, Oba Ajayi said the amnesty for the cultists was a result of several engagements and discussions during when many of the cultists regretted their nefarious acts and promised to turn a new leaf.

 

The monarch added, “Not satisfied with the killings and disturbance of these cultists in the town, the community re-strategised and moved against them. The heat was so much that some of them were even forced to leave the town, but they continued to beg, sending emissaries that they were ready to turn a new leaf.

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“We have engaged them and told them point-blank that cultism is not the way forward, that they will only ruin their lives, ruin their family names and the plans of God for their lives.

 

“We told them to submit their weapons and stay away from cultism, and we have promised to integrate them into the society. It is an ongoing exercise, and we hope that their colleagues in other parts of Remoland and Ogun State as a whole will draw a vital lesson and follow suit as well.”

 

He thanked Governor Dapo Abiodun, security agencies, and the Sagamu Security Committee for working round the clock to ensure the success of the amnesty deal for the former cultists.

 

He begged the residents of the community to show the repentant cultists love and support and not treat them as outcasts.

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Police raid kidnappers’ den in Abuja, arrest one

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Men of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command have raided a kidnappers’ den in Jibi forest bordering Dei-dei Abuja and arrested one suspect.

This was disclosed in a statement shared on the command’s X account on Monday by the spokesperson for the command, SP Josephine Adeh.

Adeh said exhibits such as firearms and cows were recovered from the camp.

The statement said, “The operatives of the FCT Police Command, in a continued fight against banditry in FCT, stormed a kidnappers’ den in Jibi forest bordering Dei-dei Abuja on March 23, 2024, at about 6am. On sighting police operatives, the bandits fled from their hideouts to escape arrest.

“The crime prevention operation was carried out on the heels of a credible intelligence that one Mallam Danyaboi and Ilu, gang members and colleagues to one Nasiru Mohammed aka. Danger, who was earlier arrested and paraded by the police command on March 11, 2024, in connection with a series of kidnappings in FCT, had planned a reprisal kidnapping attack in Zuba and its environs for the arrest of their members.

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“Exhibits such as firearms and cows were recovered from the camp.”

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