A federal high court in Lagos has recently sentenced Courage Ipaka, a Benin City resident for impersonating famous singer Flavour, to 24 months in prison for defrauding a U.S.-based woman out of $53,000.

He was found guilty of tricking U.S. citizen Yvelte M. Thompson by posing as the Ada singer were he accepted money using Bitcoin wallets and promising to arrange performances in the United States.

Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), led the investigation into Ipaka’s activities. Ekpar revealed that the fraud came to light after a petition was filed by Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and others on behalf of Thompson.

“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.