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Claim: A TikTok user claimed via video that the United States government had released the mugshot of the arrested tech queen, Sapphire.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s investigation shows that the image in question has not been used by any media outlets to report her arrest by the FBI, nor has there been any report confirming the release of her mugshot to the public. We discovered the image was AI-generated. Meanwhile, Sapphire was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, not 40 years as the claimant portrayed.
Full Text
Sapphire Egemasi, a 28-year-old Nigerian developer, alongside her accomplice, a Ghanaian national, Samuel Kwadwo, were arrested in April 2025 following a coordinated cyber operation targeting the United States (US) government.
According to the report, their clandestine operations were carried out via syndicate design and use of fake websites mimicking official domains of American government agencies to swindle vulnerable citizens.
Subsequently, on Saturday, June 7, 2025, a TikTok user named 9ja gossip shared a video with Sapphire’s mugshot. The user claimed the US government released the mugshot immediately after her arrest.
The video, which accumulated over 19,000 likes, 966 comments, 1250 bookmarks, and 920 reposts as of Monday, June 16, 2025, was captioned, “US release mugshot of tech queen A.K.A female Hushpupi and she was smiling.”
Meanwhile, the comment section featured diverse opinions about the issue and the image. While some believed the image to be real, others questioned her facial expression.
One user, Queen, asked, “Person wey dey prison dey smile?”
Another comment by the_informant reads, “Tech queen is smiling for her prison vacation.”
Also, Eudorah asserted, “Is she supposed to be crying? She is already in trouble.”
Days later, the same TikTok account uploaded another video with Sapphire’s mugshot, claiming that her sentence has been extended to 40 years, contrary to the initial 20 years.
During the same time frame, the same image with different captions was shared on X (here and here) and Facebook.
Noticing the institution involved in the case and the scepticism surrounding her facial expression in the comment section, DUBAWA decided to verify the image’s provenance.
Verification
The smile on her face, which raised suspicions among users in the comment section, alongside the background of the shared image, are strong red flags questioning the image’s authenticity.
So DUBAWA subjected the image to a reverse image search on Google and Yandex. Results led us to social media platforms where similar images had been uploaded.
We were unable to find a match to understand the context of the shared image, so DUBAWA carried out an extensive keyword search on both national and international outlets that reported the story. We found no news report on Sapphire’s mugshot’s release. Instead, credible media organisations used a particular selfie image to report the story.
Meanwhile, during our keyword search, we came across a similar image that bears a striking facial resemblance with the circulating mugshot of Sapphire but with a different outfit.
Our first observation reveals that both images have similar hairdos and the same direction of hair styling.
Secondly, DUBAWA zoomed in on both images and noticed similarities in the lighting on their foreheads.
Furthermore, DUBAWA also observed that both images, when compared, feature similar smile stretches on the lip and eyes.
Noticing the similarities in both images, which raised doubts about the authenticity of the claimant’s mugshot, DUBAWA subjected the image to Hive Moderation, an AI image detector.
The outcome of this verification indicated a 99 per cent likelihood of the image being AI-generated.
Investigating further, we scoured credible media outlets for the release of the tech queen’s mugshot, but the results came back empty.
Contrary to the user’s assertion that Sapphire would face 40 years if convicted, credible news reports here, here, and here revealed she would face up to 20 years.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s investigation reveals that the image has a high percentage of being generated by AI, and no credible media outlet has published any report regarding the release of her mugshot. Moreover, if convicted, reports note that Sapphire would face a prison sentence of up to 20 years, not 40 years.
