Chinedu Okoli a.k.a Flavour N’abania
The Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced a man named Courage Ipaka to two years in prison for impersonating the popular Nigerian musician Chinedu Okoli, widely known as Flavour N’abania, and defrauding a U.S. citizen, Mrs. Yvelte M. Thompson, of $53,000. The court also offered Ipaka an option to pay a fine of N2 million instead of serving the prison sentence.
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu handed down the sentence on Tuesday after Ipaka pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The judge also ordered Ipaka to forfeit N7.9 million to Mrs. Thompson as compensation for the financial loss she suffered.
The EFCC’s prosecutor, Suleiman Suleiman, presented evidence in court through the case’s investigator, Azibagiri Ekpar, who detailed how Ipaka carried out the fraudulent scheme. According to Ekpar, “Ipaka impersonated Flavour by claiming he would organize music shows in the United States and received payments through his Bitcoin wallets.”
The fraud came to light after the EFCC received a petition from Eyitayo Abiodun and others on behalf of Mrs. Thompson. “We invited Flavour, who came forward and denied any involvement in the allegations. Our investigation led us to Benin City, where we discovered that Courage Ipaka was the real culprit,” Ekpar explained.
During the investigation, Ipaka admitted to impersonating Flavour and confessed to scamming Mrs. Thompson of $53,000 in 2021. “Ipaka said he converted the funds into naira and deposited them into his Access Bank account,” Ekpar added. The EFCC was able to recover N7.9 million from Ipaka’s accounts through manager’s cheques from Zenith and Access banks.
Earlier in the trial, Ipaka was arraigned on two counts related to making false statements and obtaining financial instruments under false pretenses. The prosecutor explained that Ipaka committed the offenses in April 2024, when he used a Telegram account to impersonate the Nigerian entertainer Flavour N’abania, intending to deceive others into giving him money.
In his statement, Suleiman highlighted that Ipaka retained the $53,000 in his Access Bank account, which he knew was obtained through unlawful means. The charges against him were based on violations of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition and Prevention) Act of 2015 and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022.
After reviewing the evidence and Ipaka’s guilty plea, Justice Dipeolu delivered the two-year prison sentence with the option of a fine and ordered the forfeiture of N7.9 million to Mrs. Thompson, bringing some closure to the case.