Screenshots of a purported court document have circulated online in Nigeria with claims that it implicates Instagram celebrity Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi, in a $400,000 money laundering scheme carried out from inside a US prison. Abbas is currently standing trial in the US where he pleaded guilty to internet fraud. However, the claim is false: the screenshots have been digitally altered using documents laying out previous charges against Abbas. US officials have also dismissed the claim.

On March 17, 2022, Nigerian broadcaster Arise TV tweeted four screenshots of a court document purportedly detailing how Abbas fraudulently purchased Economic Impact Payment (EIP) debit cards while in a US prison.

“Ramon Abbas, also known as ‘Ray Hushpuppi’, arrested for fraud and money laundering & currently serving time in a US federal prison in California, has been caught laundering $400k worth of EIP debit cards,” reads AriseTV’s tweet.

A similar claim was reported by Nigerian daily newspapers Vanguard, Leadership, and The Independent on the same day.

EIP cards are prepaid debit cards issued by the US Treasury for stimulus payments to qualifying Americans. The purported court documents shared online claim that Abbas used compromised data of US citizens to purchase 58 EIP cards, valued at $429,800 in total.

Similar claims have been circulated on blogs and by individuals in Nigeria and neighbouring African countries.

For instance, popular Nigerian activist Deji Adeyanju...

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