A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced Courage Ipaka, who impersonated the singer Flavour, to two years in prison.
Ipaka was found guilty of defrauding a U.S.-based woman, Yvelte M. Thompson, of $53,000 by falsely using Flavour’s identity.
The investigation, led by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, revealed that Ipaka had promised to organize concerts in the United States and received payments from the victim through his Bitcoin wallets.
According to Ekpar, the investigation was initiated after receiving a petition from Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and others on behalf of the victim. The real Flavour was invited during the investigation and was found innocent of the allegations. Further probing uncovered that Ipaka, residing in Benin City, was the true culprit. He confessed to impersonating Flavour and swindling $53,000 from the woman in 2021. The funds were converted from Bitcoin to Naira through his Access Bank account.
The court recovered N7.9 million from Ipaka through manager’s cheques from Zenith and Access Bank. In addition to the prison sentence, the presiding judge, Dehinde Dipeolu, imposed a fine of N2 million on Ipaka and ordered the forfeiture of the recovered N7.9 million to Thompson.