Gbenro Adesina
The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has revealed that Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, also known as Hushpuppi, had acquired the country’s citizenship by marriage.
In a statement, the Government of the Federation stated that the clarification was necessary due to reports and rumours making the rounds suggesting that Hushpuppi, who was recently extradited to America and charged with conspiring to launder a fortune from email scams, may have acquired his St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship by investment.
The statement read in part:
“The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has become aware of reports and rumors concerning the Federation’s citizenship of a Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, allegedly a person of interest to the United States FBI.
“We note that the Nigeria-born Mr. Abbas, 37, was granted a St. Kitts and Nevis passport in February 2020 by virtue of his marriage to Shawana Nakesia Chapman, 32, a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis by birth and the United States of America.
“Ms. Chapman, a resident of North Carolina, USA, married Mr. Abbas in Nigeria in October 2018, thereby conferring him with the right to St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship.
“Any suggestion that citizenship was obtained through means other than marriage – such as the country’s Citizenship by Investment program, which includes rigorous background checks – is therefore utterly false and willfully misleading”.
St. Kitts and Nevis, officially known as the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country in the West Indies.
The St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Programme, established in 1984, is a programme that grants citizenship through donation or real estate investment to qualified applicants.
The government requires an investment of either a minimum donation of $150,000 to the Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF) or an investment of $400,000 in real estate plus related government and due diligence fees.
