Matilda Omonaiye/
The government of St. Kitts and Nevis has explained how alleged international fraudster, Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, aka Hushpuppi, obtained the country’s citizenship.
In a statement today, the government said the country did not receive any money from Hushpuppi through the country’s “citizenship by investment programme”, before granting him citizenship.
According to the statement, Hushpuppi became a citizen of the caribbean country in February this year of by virtue of his marriage to Shawana Nakesia Chapman, a 32-year-old citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis by birth.
The statement reads, “The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has become aware of reports and rumors concerning the Federation’s citizenship of a Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, allegedly a person of interest to the United States FBI.
“We note that the Nigeria-born Mr. Abbas, 37, was granted a St. Kitts and Nevis passport in February 2020 by virtue of his marriage to Shawana Nakesia Chapman, 32, a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis by birth and 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.
“Any suggestion that citizenship was obtained through means other than marriage – such as the country’s Citizenship by Investment program, which includes rigorous background checks – is therefore utterly false and willfully misleading.”
Saint Kitts and Nevis is a dual-island North American nation situated between the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Hushpuppi, who was extradited to the US from the UAE on July 2, alongside 11 alleged accomplices, including Olalekan Jacob Ponle, aka Woodberry, is facing charges of money-laundering, cyber fraud, hacking, criminal impersonating, scamming individuals, banking fraud and identity theft.
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