Hushpuppi Hires Another Top Rated Lawyer In California

Ramon Abbas popularly known as HushPuppi has hired another top rated Lawyer Vicki Podberesky, as his alleged fraud case Is transferred to Los Angeles in California.

His attorney Gal Pissetzky, will be supported by Vicki Podberesky, NaijaNews understands.

Mrs Podberesky of Andrues/Podberesky law firm based in Los Angeles, specialises in representing individuals in both state and federal criminal matters, as well as companies and individuals in administrative and in-house investigations.

Hushpuppi, is a Dubai-based Nigerian Instagram celebrity who currently is facing wire fraud charges in the United States.

He was accused of being part of a network that made “hundreds of millions of dollars” from business email compromise frauds and other scams.

Initially, he was held in the Metropolitan Correction Centre in Chicago, United States but has now been transferred to Los Angeles by the U.S. Marshals Service, following a court ruling in the Northern District of Illinois.

Naija News understands that his lawyer, Mr Pitsetssky, a top criminal defence lawyer, is only licensed to practice in Chicago.

He has however applied to appear Pro hac vice on behalf of the alleged fraudster in California.

Pro hac vice refers to apractice whereby a lawyer who has not been admitted to practice in a certain jurisdiction is allowed to participate in a particular case in that jurisdiction.

This requires him ( Mr Pitsetssky) to submit to the court, a statement from his local bar association indicating that he is a member in good standing.

In most jurisdictions, the attorney appearing pro hac vice must continue to associate with a locally licenced attorney, also referred to as “local counsel. However, the degree to which the local counsel is required or expected to participate in the matter varies.

Documents obtained by this newspaper showed that Mr Pitsetssky applied for Pro hac vice on July 22 with an attestation letter from the Attorney Registration and the Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court in Illinois.

More so, Mrs Podberesky has been hired as the local counsel to work with Mr Pitsetssky.

The order for Mr Pissetzky to appear pro hac vice with Mrs Podberesky was granted by a judge, Pedro V Castillo, of the U.S court in California on Friday.

The notice of appearance was also filed on the same date.

Mr Abbas, who is currently in detention, might spend the next twenty years in prison if convicted of the crime.