A popular broadcaster, Ifedayo Olarinde aka Daddy Freeze, who came under intense criticism online for promoting alleged internet fraudster, Ramon Abass, also known as Hushpuppi, has defended himself.

Nigerians called out the broadcaster, known for criticising pastors, on Twitter, following a mini-documentary on YouTube wherein he featured Hushpuppi.

In the video that has gone viral, the broadcaster could also be seen dining with Hushpuppi and mocking Nigerians who questioned his luxurious lifestyle on social media.

In the documentary, Hushpuppi was heard saying his driver collects more money in a month than a local government chairman in Nigeria.

Daddy Freeze said, “Hushpuppi’s driver earns #700,000 a month, you that are abusing him, you are doing houseboy work and you are collecting #35,000 you go on instablog to go and abuse Hushpuppi… Instead of you to beg Hushpuppi make he use your papa do driver.”

 

Defense

Addressing critics on Friday, Daddy Freeze said he never knew Hushpuppi to be a criminal but a social media influencer and that if he knew, he wouldn’t have hung out with him.

“I didn’t know him to be a criminal, if I did I wouldn’t hang out with him. And unless someone is proven guilty, I do not discriminate against them because the one who thought me Christianity, the one who I follow, Christ did not discriminate against anyone,” he said.

Speaking about his infamous interview with Hushpuppi, the broadcaster said he was in Dubai for a Cool FM event when Hushpuppi reached out to him.

He said he had tweeted that he was in Dubai, Hushpuppi saw his tweet and invited him for dinner.

The 44-year-old OAP added that he does not support fraud in any way and he would not have done a video with Hushpuppi if he had a case in court.

“As of the time I did the video, which is eight months ago, he had no case. Even now, until he is proven guilty by a competent court, we have to sit down and wait and allow the court to do its work.
Read Also or Search on OjoOjo.com : We seized N16 billion cash from Hushpuppi and his gangs — Dubai Police

“While we were driving, he got calls from Gucci, he got calls from Versace, and he got calls from LV all wanting to host him and he says he is an influencer. He didn’t get calls from any hackers, at least while I was there, there was nothing suspicious,” he said.

Background

Hushpuppi was arrested in the United Arab Emirate on June 10, for multiple fraud charges.
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The Dubai police officially released a video on Thursday, detailing how his arrest was effected. It was revealed in the video that Hushpuppi had defrauded thousands of victims of about N168 billion

Many of his followers acknowledged benefitting from his occasional cash ‘giveaways’, even though his source of affluence, which has long evoked the curiosity of bloggers, remained unclear,

Hushpuppi joins a list of high-profile Nigerians to be arrested so far in 2020. He was arrested months after several other Nigerians, including Obinwanne Okeke and Ismaila Mompha, were arrested in August and October 2019, respectively, for their alleged roles in separate multinational fraud.

Hushpuppi, who has over two million followers on Instagram, is known for his display of wealth on social media.

He often posts pictures with his luxury cars like Ferrari and Rolls Royce and a private jet.

 

The police in Dubai said on Thursday that they recovered over 150 million dirhams (about N16 billion) in cash during a coordinated raid on the apartments of Nigerians living in that city two weeks ago.

Ramon Abbas and Olalekan Ponle, widely known as Hushpuppi and Woodberry, respectively, and their alleged crew of 10 other Nigerians were the target of the June 10 operation tagged “Fox Hunt 2”, officials said.

All the 12 were taken into custody where they have remained ever since. Dubai prosecutors said the suspects had given statements but investigations into their alleged fraud would continue for weeks to come before they could be charged.

“We seized more than Dh150 million in cash from them and confiscated 13 luxury cars worth Dh25 million,” Dubai police chief, Jamal Salem Al Jallaf told the city’s major daily.

A video circulated online by Dubai authorities said officers confiscated 21 computers, 47 mobile phones, 15 memory sticks and five hard disks containing 119,580 in alleged fraud files.

A total of 1,926,400 victims were said to have been targeted by the syndicate in a scheme that spanned several months.

13 luxury cars estimated to be worth over 25 million dirhams (N2.6 billion) were also seized from the gang.

They were accused of being involved in business email compromise and other forms of Internet fraud.

The raid has been touted by Emirati authorities as a major breakthrough in their fight against cybercrimes. Thousands of Nigerians are suspected to be part of loose syndicates operating across Dubai and other parts of the United Arab Emirates.

 

The disclosure from Dubai authorities came as Nigerian law enforcement officials and their American counterparts continued to push for the custody of Hushpuppi and his associates from Emirate authorities, with both countries claiming to have enough grounds to prosecute the suspects.

Most of the victims were believed to be from the United States and Europe, although it was unclear whether Emirati nationals or residents were also swindled.