A young man impersonating Flavour sentenced to two years for $53,000 in fraud
A federal high court in Lagos has sentenced Courage Ipaka, a resident of Benin City, to 24 months in prison for impersonating the famous singer Flavour and defrauding a U.S.-based woman of $53,000.
Ipaka was found guilty of deceiving Yvelte M. Thompson, a U.S. citizen, by posing as the “Ada” singer and accepting payments through Bitcoin wallets, promising to arrange performances in the United States.
The investigation was led by Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The fraud was uncovered following a petition filed by Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and others on Thompson’s behalf.
He said:
“Upon receiving the petition, we invited Flavour, who was found to be innocent of the allegations.
“Our investigation revealed that Ipaka had impersonated Flavour to obtain $53,000 from Thompson in 2021.
He transferred the funds through Bitcoin wallets and later converted them into Nigerian Naira, which was deposited into his Access Bank account.”
The EFCC successfully recovered N7.9 million from Ipaka, which was traced through Zenith and Access Bank manager’s cheques.
