A federal high court sitting in Lagos has sentenced Courage Ipaka, an impersonator of singer Flavour, to two years in prison for defrauding U.S. citizen Yvelte M. Thompson of $53,000 by using Flavour’s identity.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) investigator, Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, who led the investigation into Ipaka, revealed that he allegedly promised to organise shows in America and received payment via Bitcoin from the victim.
Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC’s investigator, led the probe against Ipaka.
Ekpar said that the defendant promised to organise shows in America and received payment from the victim through his Bitcoin wallets.
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.”
The presiding judge, Dehinde Dipeolu, in his ruling, sentenced Ipaka to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine of N2 million.
Also, he forfeited the sum of N7.9 million to Thompson.
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