Court jails singer Flavour’s impersonator in Lagos for defrauding US lady

• Ipaka allegedly used Flavour’s identity to defraud Yvelte M. Thompson of $53,000 in the United States.

• The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigator, Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, has initiated a probe against Ipaka.

• Ekpar claimed that the defendant promised to organize American shows and received payment from the victim via his Bitcoin wallets.

A federal high court in Lagos has imposed a two-year prison sentence on Courage Ipaka, an impersonator of the singer Flavour.

Ipaka was found guilty of using Flavour’s identity to defraud Yvelte M. Thompson, a woman residing in the United States, out of $53,000.

The investigation, led by Azibagiri Dan Ekpar from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), revealed that Ipaka had promised to arrange shows in America and received payments from the victim via his Bitcoin wallets.

The inquiry was initiated following a petition from Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and others on behalf of Thompson, which led to the invitation of Flavour, who denied any involvement in the case.

Following a petition received from one Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and others on behalf of the victim, “We invited Flavour who claimed innocence of the allegations.

“Upon investigation, we discovered that one Ipaka Courage who lives in Benin City was the perpetrator. The defendant admitted in his statement that he impersonated Flavour by obtaining $53,000 from a woman who is a United States citizen in 2021.

“He wired the funds through Bitcoin wallets and converted them into his Access Bank account where he received the value in Naira.

“The sum of N7.9 million was recovered from the defendant through Zenith and Access Bank manager’s cheques.”

In his ruling, Judge Dehinde Dipeolu sentenced Ipaka to two years in prison, with the option of paying a fine of N2 million.

Additionally, he ordered the forfeiture of N7.9 million to Thompson.