A man, identified as Courage Ipaka, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos for duping a United States citizen, Mrs. Yvelte Thompson, of $53,000 by impersonating Nigerian musician Chinedu Okoli, popularly known as Flavour N’abania, News About Nigeria reports.
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu convicted Ipaka on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to a two-count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Earlier on, the prosecution counsel, Suleiman Suleiman, had led EFCC investigator Azibagiri Ekpar in evidence against the defendant.
The witness told the court that Ipaka impersonated Flavour by pledging to organise shows in the United States of America and receiving payment through his Bitcoin wallets.
The prosecution further explained that the EFCC got wind of the fraud following a petition by one Eyitayo Abiodun and others on behalf of the victim.
He noted that Flavour had claimed innocence after he was invited by the Crimes Commission, adding that further investigations revealed that the suspect living in Benin was the perpetrator.
He stated, “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 N7.9 million was recovered from the defendant through Zenith and Access Bank manager’s cheques.”
The judge, however, sentenced him to two years in prison with an option of a fine of N2 million.
