Singer Davido breaks his silence with convicted internet fraudster Ramon Abbas, known as Hushpuppi.
In a recent podcast interview, the “unavailable” singer admitted that he had shared a friendship with Hushpuppi but insisted that he was unaware of his fraudulent transactions at the time.
“He’s my friend. I’ve seen him before-I never really knew what he was doing. But he’s living a great life,” Davido said in the new podcast.
Despite the public consequences and Hushpuppi’s ongoing imprisonment, the artist’s sympathy and shared hope for his ultimate release.
“Hushpuppi will come out soon. He lives his life. It’s not worth it to me to be locked up. But let me not make excuses for them (the fraudster). Some people are happy to play for five years, that’s all.”
Davido also reflects the economic difficulties faced by many in Nigeria, acknowledging poverty and despair can sometimes bring people into illegal businesses.
He explained: “In Nigeria, you face a difficult situation and you think, what do you know? Let me play for two years and I’m fine.”
“That’s what people are. My prayers are coming to him.”
Hushpuppi was sentenced to 11 years in U.S. federal prison in 2022 for his role in a multi-million-dollar fraud conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II also ordered him to pay $1.7 million in damages to the two victims.
He had conspired to launder money after being arrested in Dubai in April 2021 in June 2020. Hushpuppi remains in federal custody since he extradited to the United States.
