A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced Courage Ipaka to two years in prison for defrauding a U.S. citizen, Yvelte Thompson, of $53,000 by posing as Nigerian musician Chinedu Okoli, also known as Flavour N’abania.
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu delivered the verdict after Ipaka pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,.
Prosecution counsel Suleiman Suleiman presented evidence through EFCC investigator Azibagiri Ekpar.
The court was informed that Ipaka had impersonated Flavour to promise the organization of events in the U.S. and received payments via Bitcoin wallets.
The EFCC became aware of the fraud through a petition filed by Eyitayo Abiodun and others on behalf of the victim.
He said: “We invited Flavour, who honoured the invitation and claimed innocence of the allegations. Upon investigation, we discovered that one Ipaka Courage, who lives in Benin City, Edo State, was the perpetrator.
“We invited the defendant, and he admitted in his statement that he impersonated Flavour by obtaining the sum of $53,000 from a woman, who is a United States citizen in 2021.”
“He wired the funds through Bitcoin wallets and converted them in his Access Bank account where he received the value in Naira.
“The sum of N7.9million was recovered from the defendant through Zenith and Access Bank manager’s cheques.”
After Ipaka’s guilty plea and a review of the prosecution’s evidence, Justice Dipeolu sentenced him to two years in prison, with the alternative of a N2 million fine.