Friday, September 19, 2025 - A Nigerian citizen residing in the United Kingdom has been arrested pursuant to a United States request for extradition following his indictment on charges of wire fraud, computer fraud and theft of over $235,000 from Western Pennsylvania University.
Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti made the
announcement in a statement issued by the Department of Justice on Thursday,
September 18, 2025.
Farouk Adekunle Adepoju was arrested by U.K. authorities on
September 15, 2025, and is currently awaiting extradition to the United States
to face the seven-count Indictment in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
According to the Indictment, which was unsealed on Thursday,
between March 2023 and April 2023, Adepoju remotely accessed a protected
computer belonging to a Western Pennsylvania construction company that was
performing work for a university also located in the Western District of
Pennsylvania.
Adepoju used this unauthorized access to create rule changes
within the email account of an employee with the construction company, and then
registered a spoofed domain and spoofed email account to assume the identity of
another employee of that company.
From that spoofed email account, Adepoju sent fraudulent
emails to employees of the university, requesting that they update the
construction company’s payment information to a fraudulent bank account.
Relying upon the emails, the university updated the payment
information to the fraudulent bank account that Adepoju provided and sent a
payment of approximately $235,266.80 to that account, funds that the university
has not 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. “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.”
"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,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin
Rojek.
“We will find you and bring you to justice, no matter where
you might be. Email compromise schemes are not victimless crimes; they are one
of the costliest threats large and small businesses, universities, and
organizations face today.”
Adepoju is charged with six counts of wire fraud and one
count of computer fraud. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to
20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud offenses and up to five years in
prison for the computer fraud offense.
Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence
imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior
criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Mark V. Gurzo is
prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States, with significant
assistance provided by the Department of Justice’s Office of International
Affairs.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Pittsburgh Field
Office conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment.
An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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