A Nigerian man, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, has been arrested in the United Kingdom and is awaiting extradition to the United States over allegations of wire fraud and computer fraud linked to a scheme that defrauded a U.S. university of more than $235,000.
According to Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Troy Rivetti, Adepoju was indicted on seven counts and taken into custody by U.K. authorities on September 15, 2025.
The case stems from an FBI investigation into unauthorised access of a Pennsylvania construction company’s computer system between March and April 2023. The company had been contracted to carry out work for a university in the district.
Investigators allege that Adepoju remotely accessed the company’s computer, altered email account rules, and registered a spoofed domain and email address to impersonate an employee.
Using the false credentials, he allegedly sent fraudulent instructions to the university directing that payments intended for the construction company be diverted to a bank account under his control.
The university, believing the instructions to be legitimate, updated its payment details and transferred $235,266.80 to the fraudulent account. Prosecutors said the stolen funds have not been recovered.
“Adepoju is charged with using sophisticated cyber means to illegally access accounts belonging to a business in order to victimise one of our region’s universities,” Rivetti said.
“Even from halfway across the world, however, Adepoju was not beyond the investigative reach of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“His arrest in the United Kingdom underscores our district’s unwavering commitment to aggressively locate and prosecute cybercriminals worldwide with the assistance of our law enforcement partners both here and abroad.”
FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said the case sent a clear warning to international cybercriminals.
“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,” he said.
Adepoju faces six counts of wire fraud, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and one count of computer fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. Assistant United States Attorney Mark V. Gurzo is prosecuting the case.
(Guardian)
