'Yahoo Boy' impersonating Flavour jailed two years

A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced Courage Ipaka to two years in prison for defrauding a US citizen, Mrs. Yvelte Thompson, of $53,000 by imitating Nigerian artiste Chinedu Okoli, also known as Flavour N'abania.

Justice Dehinde Dipeolu convicted Ipaka after he pleaded guilty to two counts preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Previously, prosecution counsel Suleiman Suleiman walked EFCC investigator Azibagiri Ekpar through the evidence against the defendant.

The witness told the court that Ipaka impersonated Flavour by promising to schedule performances in the United States of America and accepting payment via Bitcoin wallets.

Ekpar explained that the EFCC got wind of the fraud, following a petition by one Eyitayo Abiodun and others on behalf of the victim.

He said: “We invited Flavour, who honored 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.”

Following the defendant's guilty plea and after evaluating the prosecution's case against him, Justice Dipeolu sentenced Ipaka to two years in prison with an option of N2 million fine.