Obinwanne Okeke, known as Invictus Obi, a convicted fraudster, who is presently serving a 10-year sentence in a United States prison for $11m fraud, says it is insulting to compare him with recently convicted international fraudster, Ramon Abass, aka Hushpuppi.
Invictus said that while he took to fraud in order to help the less privileged in Nigeria, Hushpuppi defrauded people in order to flaunt it on social media.
Hushpuppi is facing criminal charges for conspiracy to launder money acquired from business email compromise frauds and other scams, including schemes that defrauded a US law firm of about $40m, illegally transferred $14.7m from a foreign financial institution and targeted to steal $124m from an English football club until his arrest by the Dubai Police in June 2020 and his subsequent extradition to the United States.
“It’s insulting. Hushpuppi and I are not on the same level. Hushpuppi could never achieve what I achieved. He cannot run a business and we are not similar in any way.
“He was out to please the crowd, I was out to change lives, create jobs and conquer the business world. I have done so much for my community back home with my charity foundation. Which lives has he helped? Nobody,” Invictus said in response to a question on his similarity with Hushpuppi.
“When asked if he disliked Hushpuppi, Invictus responded, “No, I have never met him, but I just find the continued comparison very annoying. Our impact on the world is very different. I have made much more positive contributions to society than he has.”
Invictus, who was named on Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 in 2016, also recalled and narrated how he was introduced to online fraud.
Invictus said, “I was doing a little here and there, but the level changed through this one particular friend I used to look up to.
“I visited him one day and he was living very comfortably with three new cars and a huge house at a young age. When at his house, I noticed him on a website www.vionz.to that was selling crypto and bank logins.
“I asked him about the website and he showed me that he buys bank and crypto logins from there and easily withdraws above $20,000 at a time; that’s how he was funding his lifestyle. In 15 minutes, he demonstrated it to me and from there, I tried it myself when I got home.
“After successfully doing my first transfer so easily, it was hard to stop after that. From there, I got introduced to other money-making schemes that got me where I am today.”
