A Nigerian national resident in the United Kingdom, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, has been arrested in London at the request of the United States over allegations of wire fraud and computer fraud.
U.S. prosecutors said Adepoju, who was taken into custody by U.K. authorities on September 15, 2025, is awaiting extradition to the Western District of Pennsylvania to face a seven-count indictment.
According to court documents, Adepoju allegedly hacked into the systems of a Western Pennsylvania construction company contracted by a university between March and April 2023. He is accused of altering email rules, creating a spoofed account, and deceiving the university into transferring $235,266.80 into a fraudulent bank account. The stolen funds remain unrecovered.
“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 U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti. “Even from halfway across the world, however, Adepoju was not beyond the investigative reach of the FBI.”
FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek warned that international cybercriminals would be pursued relentlessly: “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 faces six counts of wire fraud and one count of computer fraud. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and five years for computer fraud.
