The news that Courage Ikpaka, shown above (right), was sentenced to two years in prison by the Federal High Court in Lagos for impersonating him and cheating an American woman named Yvelte M. Thompson of $53,000 has prompted singer Chinedu Okoli, also known as Flavour N’abania, to respond.
According to LIB, on Tuesday, September 3, Justice Dehinde Dipeolu found Ikpaka guilty of the two counts the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had brought against him.
Azibagiri Dan Ekpar, an EFCC investigator, was escorted by prosecution attorney Suleiman Suleiman through the evidence used against the defendant. The witness said in court during the trial that Ipaka had taken on the persona of Flavour by promising to book concerts in the US and accepting payments via his Bitcoin wallets. Ekpar clarified that a petition submitted on behalf of the victim by one Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and others led the EFCC to become aware of the fraud.
“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 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 Bank account where he received the value in Naira. The sum of N7.9m Naira was recovered from the defendant through Zenith and Access Bank manager’s cheques.”
After the defendant entered a guilty plea, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Ipaka to two years in jail with the possibility of a N2 million fine after considering the evidence presented by the prosecution. The judge also gave Mrs. Thompson the N7.9 million that was taken from the guilty party.
Using his X username to respond to the news, Flavour shared a picture of the impostor and said
‘’One down. Ndi uchu!”
