A United States court has dismissed the case against Woodbery (real name Olalekan Ponle), who was earlier arrested alongside Huspuppi, the Instagram celebrity, on cyberfraud allegations.
Woodbery was extradited to the US where he faced charges on conspiracy to commit fraud, one for which he risked 20 years jail term. He was arrested on the heels of the arrest of Huspuppi.
US’ Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) had alleged that part of the monies from the scams, which he pulled between January and September 2019, had been stashed away in a Bitcoin (BTC) wallet.
After he was freed by the court, his lawyer Michael Nash, said his client was freed because he was charged for a different crime.
Woodberry is facing charges bordering on wire fraud conspiracy at a United States District Court sitting in Illinois, after he was arrested at the United Arab Emirate on June 10.
However, his lawyer said the case was dismissed because the government charged him with a slightly different crime.
According to him, “The government dismissed the case because it charged him with a slightly different crime. In the long run, no difference.”
But Assistant U.S. Attorney, Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, said although the complaint was dismissed, but the grand jury indictment is still active.
“We dismissed the complaint, but the indictment (charging eight counts of wire fraud) is still active. We cannot comment on the dismissal of the complaint, but I wanted to make sure you knew the indictment is still active,” adding that the accused “has now been charged by indictment, instead of being charged by the complaint by FBI.”
However, the accused will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal.
