People’s Gazette
The trial of popular Internet fraudster Ramon “Hushpuppi” Abbas has taken a new turn with the United States District Court for the Central District of California granting one of his pleas while rejecting another.
On Thursday, presiding judge Otis D. Wright responded to Messrs Abbas and Shapiro in court filings seen by The Gazette.
“For good cause shown, it is hereby ordered that Defendant’s request to continue the sentencing date from September 19, 2022 at 1:30pm to November 3,2022 at 1;30pm for is DENIED,” the document said. “Defendant’s request for the Government to produce all Juma Case (USA v. Juma 2:21-cr-00203-RGK) discovery to Mr Abbas is GRANTED.”
Peoples Gazette had earlier reported that Louis Shapiro, Mr Abbas’s attorney, and federal prosecutors were at an impasse over a proposed delay in the trial ahead of sentencing.
Court filings revealed Mr Shapiro’s assertion that Mr Abbas would be unable to prepare for his sentencing hearing without all the documents relating to the Juma case.
“Mr Abbas is requesting the court to grant a brief continuance to November 3, 2022, and to order the government to produce all the discovery in the Juma case,” the document said.
In December 2019, Mr Abbas conspired with Kenyan national Abdulrahman Imraan Juma and others to defraud a Qatari company and its owner. Mr Abbas posed as a Wells Fargo Bank employee, and both men opened a bank account at Wells Fargo Bank in Canoga Park, California.
The document noted that between December 19 and 24, 2019, Messrs Abbas and Juma conned their victim into paying $330,000 to fund an “investor’s account” to facilitate a $15 million loan…
