Singer Chinedu Okoli, aka Flavour N’abania, has reacted to the sentence of his impersonator, Courage Ikpaka, the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Courage Ikpaka bagged two years’ imprisonment for impersonating the singer, through which he defrauded an American woman Yvelte M. Thompson of $53,000.
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu on September 3 convicted Ikpaka after he pleaded guilty to the two charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Prosecution counsel, Suleiman Suleiman, led EFCC investigator Azibagiri Dan Ekpar in evidence against the defendant. During the trial, the witness told the court that Ipaka impersonated Flavour by pledging to organise shows in the United States and had received payment through his Bitcoin wallets.
Ekpar explained that the commission received a petition from one Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and others on behalf of the singer.
“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 bank account where he received the value in Naira.
“The sum of N7.9m was recovered from the defendant through Zenith and Access Bank manager’s cheques.”
Following the defendant’s guilty plea and upon reviewing the prosecution’s evidence against him, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Ipaka to two-year imprisonment, with an option of a fine of N2 million.
The convict also forfeited the sum of N7.9m recovered from him to Mrs. Thompson.
Reacting to the news via his verified X handle @2niteFlavour, the artiste tweeted:
One down. Ndi uchu! pic.twitter.com/12ASK3KNpV
— Flavour of Africa (@2niteFlavour) September 4, 2024
