Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, a Nigerian national in the United Kingdom has been arrested over alleged wire fraud and computer fraud, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti has announced.
Adepoju was taken into custody by U.K. authorities on September 15, 2025, and is currently awaiting extradition to the United States, where he faces a seven-count indictment filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
As outlined in the unsealed indictment, between March and April 2023, Adepoju is accused of infiltrating the computer system of a construction company based in Western Pennsylvania that was under contract with a university.
He allegedly manipulated email settings, set up a fake email account, and successfully deceived the university into transferring $235,266.80 into a fraudulent bank account. The stolen funds have yet to be recovered.
“Adepoju is charged with using sophisticated cyber means to illegally access accounts belonging to a business in order to victimize one of our region’s universities,” said Acting United States Attorney Rivetti in a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Even from halfway across the world, however, Adepoju was not beyond the investigative reach of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek added, “Criminals who think they can reach across the globe into the United States to line their pockets at the expense of the American public need know one thing: the FBI and our partners are not going to let you get away with it.”
Adepoju has been charged with six counts of wire fraud and one count of computer fraud. The wire fraud charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while the computer fraud charge carries a potential maximum of five years.