Nigerian Man Who Scammed US Woman Pretending To Be Flavour Jailed

A federal high court in Lagos has sentenced Courage Ipaka to two years in prison for pretending to be popular singer, Flavour N’abania and using the decoy to scam an American of $53,000.

Ipaka reportedly used the singer’s identity to scam Yvelte M. Thompson, a woman based in the United States of $53,000.

Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, an investigator from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), led the investigation against Ipaka.

On Tuesday, Ekpar testified before the court, explaining that the accused had promised to organize concerts in America and had received money from his victim via Bitcoin transactions.

According to Ekpar, the EFCC became involved after receiving a petition from Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and others, who acted on behalf of the victim. “We invited Flavour, who cooperated with our investigation and denied any involvement in the fraud,” Ekpar told the court.

“Further investigation revealed that Ipaka Courage, residing in Benin City, was behind the crime,” Ekpar continued. “He admitted to impersonating Flavour and scamming a U.S. woman out of $53,000 in 2021. He converted the Bitcoin payments into Naira, depositing the money in his Access Bank account.”

The EFCC managed to recover N7.9 million from Ipaka through cheques issued by Zenith and Access Banks.

Ipaka pleaded guilty to charges of cybercrime and money laundering. Judge Dehinde Dipeolu sentenced him to two years in prison but allowed him the option to pay a N2 million fine. Additionally, Ipaka was ordered to forfeit N7.9 million to Thompson having been convicted of the scam using the name of the popular singer, Flavour.

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