Hushpuppi, a well-known Instagram personality, has been accused again after US officials submitted court documents describing how he committed fraud and laundered more than $400k while imprisoned.
On March 16, 2022, US prosecutors presented fresh evidence to the United States District Court of California charging HushPuppi of engaging in fraud and money laundering in a federal prison in the United States.
According to court filings, while imprisoned in a federal prison in the United States, Hushpuppi engaged in the purchase and washing of Economic Impact Payment debit cards obtained unlawfully from stolen data of US citizens and residents.
Under the CARES Act, the US government provides Economic Impact Payments to US residents. Debit cards are one of the methods through which eligible Americans in the United States can get their Economic Impact Payments. Hackers are allegedly using data from US citizens to apply for and get Economic Impact Payments debit cards, according to court documents. On underground markets, they sell these EIP cards to other cybercriminals.
