A US court has issued an arrest warrant for a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari over his links to alleged fraudster, Ramon Abbas, popularly known as Hushpuppi.
The arrest warrant was issued by a U.S magistrate judge, Otis Wright, a spokesperson in the United States Attorney’s Office confirmed to Channels Television.
According to documents unsealed this week in the US, Mr Kyari had arrested and jailed one Chibuzo Vincent, at the behest of Hushpuppi.
Mr Kyari also allegedly sent Hushpuppi bank account details into which Hushpuppi could deposit payment for Vincent’s arrest and imprisonment.
Mr Kyari, in a Facebook post on Thursday, denied the allegations.
Alleged dispute
On Wednesday, the US Department of Justice announced that Hushpuppi had been involved “in an elaborate scheme to steal more than $1.1 million from a businessperson attempting to finance the construction of a school for children in Qatar.”
Six persons were indicted in the investigation.
In laundering the proceeds of the Qatar operation, a dispute broke out among members of the conspiracy, courts documents said.
The dispute allegedly prompted Vincent, one of the members, to contact the victim and inform them of the scam operation.
After this contact, Hushpuppi allegedly arranged to have Vincent jailed in Nigeria by Mr Kyari, a top police officer in Nigeria.
Mr Kyari was also alleged to have provided third-party bank accounts to receive payment for the illegal arrest.
Kyari’s defence
In his defence on Thursday, Mr Kyari said Vincent had been arrested only because Hushpuppi claimed that he (Vincent) had seriously threatened to attack his family in Nigeria.
He said Vincent was eventually released on bail after no actual threats were discovered.
“Nobody demanded a kobo from Abbas Hushpuppi,” Mr Kyari said.
“Our focus was to save people’s lives that were purported to have been threatened,” Kyari said.”
Mr Kyari also said Hushpuppi once sent N300,000 to his (Kyari) tailor after the alleged fraudster had admired some of his outfits on social media.
The clothes “were brought to our office and he sent somebody to collect them in our office,” Mr Kyari said.
