Man impersonating Flavour sentenced to 2 years for $53K fraud

A federal high court in Lagos recently sentenced Courage Ipaka, a resident of Benin City, to twenty-four months in prison for impersonating the famous Nigerian singer Flavour and defrauding a U.S.-based woman, Yvelte M. Thompson, out of fifty-three thousand dollars. Posing as the "Ada" singer, Ipaka deceived Thompson by accepting funds through Bitcoin wallets, promising to organize performances in the United States.

The fraud was uncovered following a petition filed by Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun on behalf of Thompson. Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), led the investigation, which revealed that Ipaka converted the Bitcoin into Nigerian Naira and deposited the money into his Access Bank account.

During the investigation, Flavour was cleared of any involvement in the scam. The EFCC successfully recovered N7.9 million from Ipaka, traced through manager’s cheques from Zenith and Access Banks. This case underscores the dangers of online impersonation and fraud, especially when it involves high-profile personalities.