Malian businessman Foutango Babani Sissoko, who gained worldwide fame after defrauding a Dubai bank of $242million using ‘black magic’, has died at his home in Bamako. 

Babani died on Sunday after a long illness, aged 79, according to local media reports.

He was a friend and business partner of former president Yahya Jammeh in the late 1990s. They embarked on several failed business ventures including a regional airline, Air Dabia, that seized operations in 1998. 

Babani is a cause celebre among fraudsters and the original Hush Puppi for masterminding one of the most audacious frauds of all time. 

He was said to have tricked the head of Dubai Islamic Bank into transferring $242 million to his personal accounts after convincing him that he could use black magic to double the money. 

Babani never faced justice for the fraud. A Dubai court sentenced him, in his absence, to three years for fraud and practising magic. 

He was also famed for his many wives and charitable activities in Mali, Gambia and the US.

Babani also got involved in Malian politics becoming the mayor of his native Dabia and Member of Parliament for 12 years between 2002 and 2014.

By Momodou Musa Touray