A federal high court in Lagos has sentenced Courage Ipaka to two years in prison for defrauding a U.S.-based woman of $53,000 by impersonating the well-known singer Flavour.

Ipaka, who resides in Benin City, was convicted of deceiving Yvelte M. Thompson, a U.S. citizen, by claiming he would arrange shows in the United States and receiving payments via Bitcoin wallets.

The investigation, led by Azibagiri Dan Ekpar from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was initiated after a petition was submitted by Eyitayo Tolulope Abiodun and others on behalf of Thompson.

Ekpar stated, "After receiving the petition, we invited Flavour, who was cleared of any wrongdoing."

The investigation uncovered that Ipaka had impersonated Flavour to extract $53,000 from Thompson in 2021, transferring the money through Bitcoin wallets and subsequently converting it to Nigerian Naira, which he deposited into his Access Bank account.

The EFCC managed to recover N7.9 million from Ipaka, traced through cheques from Zenith and Access Bank.

Judge Dehinde Dipeolu sentenced Ipaka to two years in prison, with an alternative fine of N2 million, and ordered him to forfeit the recovered N7.9 million to Thompson.