"I plan to put up a vigorous defence to get him out of the case" said Hushpuppi's lawyer, Pissetzky revels.

Hushpuppi's lawyer says his client earned his money by monetising his large social media presence. He refused to discuss how he was getting paid for legal fees or the source of Hushpuppi's money. Mr Pissetzky says the case could last several months, even longer than a year.

The Chicago defence lawyer's argument that Hushpuppi was paid by designer brands for promotion has set the stage for what promises to be a long trial in American courts.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accuses Mr Abbas, 37, of conspiring to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from frauds known as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and other scams.

Did the US act legally?
It is the latest high-profile fraud case involving a Nigerian national in the United States but his lawyer says the US had no authority to transport him from Dubai.

"In my opinion, the FBI and the government here acted illegally when they kidnapped him from Dubai without any legal process to do so," Mr Pissetzky told the BBC.

"There was no extradition, there were no legal steps taken, there were no court documents filed, it was simply a call to the FBI. He is not a citizen of the United States, the US had absolutely no authority to take him," his lawyer says.

But the Dubai police said in a Facebook post that the FBI director had thanked them for extraditing the two men.

"You'll have to ask them about why they called it an extradition," the US Department of Justice (DoJ) spokesman responded in an email.

In a statement about Mr Abbas' initial court appearance, the DoJ said "FBI special agents earlier this week obtained custody of Abbas and brought him to the United States" without giving any further details.

Mr Pissetzky is not convinced.

"If Dubai wanted to expel him, they should have expelled him back to Nigeria. I've never heard of anything like that. That is the real story here."

a confident lawyer would have simply said.... :"my client is innocent and would soon be freed" instead he is talking of BS about why he was extradited bla bla bla.

he committed crimes against US entities, companies and these same companies pressed charges against him in the US. the crime originated in the US, his accomplices committed these crimes in the US...and we all know that the US make their own rules when it comes to people they are against...ask Assange, Snowden etc

if the US can extradite and prosecute drug barons that have never set foot in the US (while their drugs are flooding the US) then this man really think they cant bundle some scammers out of Dubai?! that foolish lawyer should educate himself on UAE's Federal Law no. 39 of 2006 on Mutual Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters.

MrBrownJay1:
a confident lawyer would have simply said.... :"my client is innocent and would soon be freed" instead he is talking of BS about why he was extradited bla bla bla.

he committed crimes against US entities, companies and these same companies pressed charges against him in the US. the crime originated in the US, his accomplices committed these crimes in the US...and we all know that the US make their own rules when it comes to people they are against...ask Assange, Snowden etc

dont mind dat charge and bail lawyer.

Medicine after death?

This one is strong.....





The lawyer should just tell him that it would end in tears.....


Premium Tears

donbachi:
dont mind dat charge and bail lawyer.

the fool is just trying to get a piece of the pie... they say it may last a year, imagine how much he will charge?!

the dude is good with black criminals, will take your money and still send you to jail... (he never represented MJ btw).

This lawyer is just making noise.

Nna17:
This lawyer is just making noise.

No sir. Democracy is based on the rule of law. You can not use illegality to solve crime. What's FBI in a hurry for? Why cant they wait on Dubai government to process all the legitimate extradition papers? FBI behaved like our Nigeria Police here.
I have higher expectations

Lifestone:
No sir. Democracy is based on the rule of law. You can not use illegality to solve crime. What's FBI in a hurry for? Why cant they wait on Dubai government to process all the legitimate extradition papers? FBI behaved like our Nigeria Police here.
I have higher expectations

they always have and always will... so long as they attain their aim. UAE did have all the legal paper to extradite, check the UAE's Federal Law no. 39 of 2006 on Mutual Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters.