After the revelation by the US Department of Justice that Ray Hushpuppi had acquired the citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis, the country has confirmed it but with some denials.
St Kitts and Nevis while confirming that Huspuppi is a citizen of the country said he did not get the status through the citizenship by investment program which is received after the payment of a minimum of about $150,000.
According to a statement by the prime minister said Hushpuppi, whose real name is Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, married Shawana Nakesia Chapman, a 32-year-old 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,” the prime minister said.
“Any suggestion that citizenship was obtained through means other than marriage, such as the country’s citizenship by investment program, is therefore utterly false and willfully misleading,” the statement said.
Read full statement below:
“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. “
