The Dubai police has confiscated incriminating documents pertaining to a well-planned international fraud, worth Dh1.6 billion in the possession Raymond Abbas popularly known as Hushpuppi.
Hushpuppi and Olalekan Jacob Ponle aka Woodbery were arrested with 10 other suspects on allegations of fraud involving huge money on a raid.
Dubbed “Fox Hunt 2”, the operation revealed a hidden online fraud network that was committing crimes outside the UAE, including money-laundering, cyber fraud, hacking, criminal impersonating, scamming individuals, banking fraud and identity theft.
Police said the raid resulted in seizure of incriminating documents pertaining to a well-planned international fraud worth Dh1.6 billion.
Lt General Abdullah Khalifa Al Merri, Commander-In-Chief of Dubai Police, said the success of the operation is another feather in the cap of Dubai Police.
“Dubai Police stand against money laundering and organised cyber fraud and online scams. We are up to date with the latest technologies and methods that gangs use in their crimes. We have a qualified team of officers to stand up against cybercrimes,” Lt Gen Al Merri said.
Brigadier Jamal Salem Al Jallaf, Director of Criminal Investigation Department at Dubai Police, said they received information about a gang specialised in money laundering and online scams.
“The gang including Hushpuppi, known for his display of wealth on social media. He would pose as a businessman to lure victims from all around the world. A team of Dubai Police monitored the gang that was creating accounts on social media with fake names,” Brig Al Jallaf said.
Hushpuppi often posts pictures with his luxury cars like Ferrari and Rolls Royce and a private jet.
According to Dubai Police, the gang used to hack corporate emails and send fake emails to corporate customers to change money transfers to the gang’s personal banking accounts.
“They were designing and mimicking company and bank websites to steal credit card data and illegally obtain victims’ money before laundering the cash,” Brig Al Jallaf added.
During the arrest, police found a huge amount of data on individuals, companies, bank accounts, credit cards as well as documents of money laundering, online fraud and hacking accounts of victims outside the UAE.
“The forged documents pertained to online fraud outside the country. The fraud was worth more than Dh1.6 billion. We seized more than Dh150 million in cash from them and confiscated 13 luxury cars worth Dh25 million,” Brig Al Jallaf said.
Police confiscated 21 computers, 47 smartphones, 15 memory cards, five hard disks containing 119,580 fraud files as well as addresses of nearly two million victims.
After further investigations and analysing confiscated items, Dubai Police uncovered sensitive information and files condemning the gang’s illegal activities.
Moreover, Major-General Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Criminal Investigation Affairs, said that six SWAT teams raided the locations of the gang during zero hours.
“The operation was carried out in a highly professional manner to net all gang members. ‘Fox Hunt2’ foiled the gang’s bid to deceive many victims across the world as they were planning to obtain their money,” Maj Gen Al Mansouri said.
Source: Gulfnews
