By Gabriel Atumeyi
365Daily – Mo Abudu, Ebony Life Studios CEO has announced that she’s teaming up with Will Packer Productions to develop an untitled project based on Evan Ratliff’s Bloomberg article, “The Fall of the Billionaire Gucci Master.”
The companies won the rights in a highly competitive bid and have set up the project at Universal Pictures.
Evan Ratliff’s article had dug dip into the story of Nigerian Instagram influencer Ramon Abbas.
The man otherwise known as Ray Hushpuppi, or the Billionaire Gucci Master, is alleged to have perfected a simple internet scam that allowed him to launder millions of dollars.
Packer and Abudu’s project is described as a globetrotting action thriller — a hybrid of Catch Me If You Can and The Usual Suspects.
Will Packer and James Lopez will produce through their Will Packer Productions, with Abudu producing for EbonyLife.
Confirming the news, Mo Abudu said the rights were won after a highly contested derby by several producers and is now set up at Universal Pictures, after pitching the ideas with Packer and Lopez.
The movie and TV producer further stated that EbonyLife’s position is to ensure the depth and authenticity of this film is told.
Hushpuppi, who attracted millions of followers with pictures of a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle was arrested June 2020 by Dubai police amid claims of a £350m cyberscam.
He is being detained as part of an investigation into money-laundering, cyber fraud, hacking and scamming.
Eleven other suspects were detained during the coordinated early morning raids in an operation comprised of officers from the FBI, Interpol and Dubai police. Detectives seized more than 150 million dirham (£30 million) when they swooped on his Dubai apartment as he slept.
Investigators allege that Hushpuppi, a former second-hand clothes trader in Lagos, used his Instagram account to project a billionaire’s luxurious lifestyle to attract followers and lure in potential victims.
Officers say they found the email addresses of nearly two million victims on dozens of phones, computers and hard drives. More than a dozen luxury cars were seized in the raid along with suitcases full of cash.