New charges have been levelled against Hushpuppi, an imprisoned Nigerian Instagram big boy, alleging that he committed fraud and laundered more than $400,000 while incarcerated in the United States.
On March 16, 2022, new evidence was presented to the United States District Court of California, indicting him for fraud and money laundering at a federal prison.
According to records, the accused reportedly engaged in the acquisition and cleaning of Economic Impact Payment debit cards obtained unlawfully from stolen data of US individuals and residents while in a federal detention facility in the United States.
The CARES Act mandates that the US Government help U.S. citizens who relocate abroad with financial aid.
Debit cards are a way for eligible US individuals to receive Economic Impact Payments.
Hackers utilised data from court records to apply for and get Economic Impact Payments debit cards.
In underground marketplaces, these EIP cards are sold to other cyber criminals.
In a court filing, US authorities stated that convicts had limited access to telephone, video, internet, and computer use due to their right to privacy.
Hushpuppi, like the rest of the captives, was given access to the computer network.
However, security officials at a federal prison in the United States found that Hushpuppi was utilising the internet more frequently between January 28 and March 4, 2022.
After knowing that Hushpuppi had been imprisoned for internet-related offenses and that the warrant would be used against him, they obtained an order to record his actions.
On a system created just for him, his activities were tracked over the course of seven days.
Hushpuppi was detected selling EIP debit cards on an underground cybercriminal marketplace.
He purchased 58 EIP debit cards totalling $429,800 on the site while he was being videotaped and laundered the money via one AJ.