The net has finally closed tight around Hassan Abbas, the rogue lawyer who turned his legal practice into a money-laundering machine for a global cybercrime syndicate. A US Court of Appeals has emphatically upheld his 87-month prison sentence, dismissing his desperate bid for leniency and ordering him to pay over $2 million (KSh 258 million) in restitution to the victims of his romance scams and property fraud.

Abbas, a dual Belgian-Lebanese national licensed in Illinois, was not merely a pawn; he was a central architect in a scheme that devastated lives across continents. The court found that he used his attorney trust accounts—sacred instruments in the legal profession—to funnel millions of dollars stolen from lonely hearts victims and duped businesspeople, giving the illicit funds a veneer of legitimacy.

The Kenyan Connection

The judgment revealed a particularly brazen chapter of his crimes involving a phantom property sale in Kenya. Court records show that Abbas received $973,276 (approx. KSh 125 million) from a Nairobi law firm, proceeds from the sale of a property belonging to one Pak Sum Low. The twist? The real owner never authorized the sale. An impostor had hijacked the transaction, and Abbas was the designated "cleaner" for the dirty money.

• Jurisdictional Defense Failed: Abbas tried to argue that the Kenyan transaction was "wholly foreign" and outside US jurisdiction. The judges destroyed this argument, ruling that his use of American banking infrastructure to launder the proceeds brought him squarely under the hammer of US law.
• A Betrayal of Trust: The sentencing judge noted that Abbas abused his position as an officer of the court, making his crime not just theft, but a profound betrayal of the legal system itself.

No Escape for Enablers

This ruling sends a chilling message to professionals who think they can hide behind their licenses while facilitating fraud. The "romance scam" industry often relies on lawyers and accountants to wash the proceeds; Abbas’s seven-year term is a stark warning that the Department of Justice is now hunting the enablers as aggressively as the scammers.

For the victims, including those in Kenya who saw their property rights trampled by digital impostors, the ruling offers a measure of justice. Hassan Abbas will now trade his suit for a prison uniform, his career obliterated by his greed.