An impostor of well-known Nigerian musician Flavour, Courage Ipaka, was sentenced to two years in prison by a Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria, for scamming a woman residing in the United States of $53,000.
Ipaka’s operations were investigated by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in response to a petition submitted by Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and other interested parties on behalf of the victim, Yvelte M. Thompson.
Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, the main investigator for the EFCC, presented the evidence in court on Tuesday, describing how Ipaka pretended to be Flavour and offered to arrange music performances in the US in return for money.
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Ekpar states that Ipaka obtained the money from Thompson via Bitcoin transactions, which were then exchanged for Naira and transferred to his Access Bank account.
Ipaka, who lives in Benin City, Edo State, was able to effectively plan the fraud in 2021 by taking advantage of Thompson’s trust, according to the inquiry.
“The defendant admitted in his statement that he impersonated Flavour, obtaining $53,000 from a woman who is a United States citizen. He wired the funds through Bitcoin wallets and converted them into his Access Bank account where he received the value in Naira,” Ekpar stated during the court proceedings.
Through manager’s checks from Zenith and Access Bank, the EFCC was able to obtain N7.9 million from Ipaka during the course of the inquiry. The court ruled that the money be forfeited to Thompson, the victim.
Ipaka was given a two-year prison sentence by the presiding court, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, who also denounced his behavior.
But instead of going to jail, the court gave Ipaka the choice to pay a fine of N2 million. As part of the reparation, Thompson will also receive the N7.9 million that was recovered.
