Three notorious Nigerian internet fraudsters, each wielding significant social media and political influence, are currently serving their sentences at the same United States prison facility. Bidemi Rufai, slated for release on Valentine’s Day in 2025, is among them, reports Peoples Gazette.
Ray ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas, aged 41, Jacob Olalekan Ponle (known as Mr Woodberry), 33, and Bidemi Rufai, 46, are housed at Fort Dix, a low-security prison near Joint Base McGuire in Burlington County, New Jersey. They are expected to complete their respective jail terms at this facility.
Bidemi Rufai, a close associate of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, was apprehended at John F. Kennedy Airport in May 2021 while attempting to flee to Nigeria on a Royal Dutch ticket. FBI Special Agent Heidi Hawkins orchestrated the arrest after uncovering a scheme where Rufai allegedly stole the identities of thousands of U.S. citizens to fraudulently claim COVID-19 benefits amounting to half a million dollars. He reportedly used the illicit funds to finance an opulent lifestyle, indulging in luxury cars and watches.
Rufai pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, resulting in a five-year prison sentence. The U.S. government also mandated him to pay $604,000 in restitution to victims, including government entities like the Washington Employment Security Department ($350,763), Arkansas Division of Workforce Services ($10,166), Maine Department of Labor ($8,205), and Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency ($44,216).
Rufai, identified by prison number 83912-053, was transferred from a facility in Seattle, Washington, to Fort Dix in Burlington County in anticipation of his release on Valentine’s Day 2025.
His accomplice, Mr Woodberry, formerly incarcerated at the notorious Danbury Correctional Center in Connecticut, has also been relocated to Fort Dix. Woodberry, with prison registration number 54314-424, is scheduled for release on October 17, 2027, followed by deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Judge Robert Gettleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois sentenced Woodberry to eight years and three months in prison in July 2023 on a single count of fraud, part of a plea deal that reduced charges from seven other counts.
Woodberry, a social media personality with over a million followers on his now-deactivated Instagram, was arrested alongside Hushpuppi in Dubai on June 10, 2020. Court orders mandated him to reimburse $8 million to seven victims, with prosecutors advocating for the forfeiture of his diamond-studded jewelry collection.
The third individual, Hushpuppi, aged 41 and widely known for flaunting his lavish lifestyle on social media, has also been transferred to Fort Dix from a Los Angeles facility. Assigned prison number 54313-424, he is projected to remain incarcerated until August 6, 2029.
Arrested in Dubai in June 2020 and subsequently extradited to the U.S. to face charges related to internet fraud, Hushpuppi received an 11-year prison sentence in 2022 from United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II.
The Bureau of Prisons has not clarified whether officials were aware of the prior connections between the Nigerian trio, who were allies based in both Nigeria and Dubai.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons did not respond to requests for comments by press time.
