by Devonne Cornelius
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Mark Brantley, rejects allegations that claim that a top government official was bribed to provide Nigerian Ramon Olorunwa Abbas known as ‘Hushpuppi’ with a passport through the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme.
“I want to make it very clear that, based on the little I have seen in the public domain, there is absolutely no allegations being made against any service provider or government official in St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Brantley at his Thursday (July 29) press conference.
Last year, in a statement on Monday, July 06, 2020, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Timothy Harris said claims that suggest that the fraudster used the CBI option to obtain a passport, were false.
The Prime Minister said ‘Hushpuppi’ married Shawana Nakesia Chapman, a 32-year-old Kittitian-born citizen of the United States of America.
“Ms Chapman, a resident of North Carolina, USA, married Mr Abbas in Nigeria in October 2018, thereby conferring him with the right to St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship,” the Prime Minister said.
The UK Guardian newspaper reported that “the United States Department of Justice, in a statement, said Hushpuppi and other conspirators defrauded a Qatari businessperson by claiming to be consultants and bankers who could facilitate a loan to finance the construction of a school for US$1.1 million.
Nigerian Ramon Olorunwa Abbas known as ‘Hushpuppi’The Department of Justice said Huspuppi used proceeds from the fraud to acquire citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis.
According to the indictment document, Hushpuppi used approximately $230,000 of the stolen funds to purchase a Richard Mille RM11-03 watch, which was hand-delivered to him in Dubai and subsequently appeared in his social media posts.
Other illicit proceeds from the scheme were allegedly converted into cashier’s checks, including $50,000 in checks that were used by Abbas and a co-conspirator to obtain a passport by creating a false marriage certificate and reportedly bribing a government official.
