A Nigerian national residing in the United Kingdom, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, has been arrested by British authorities at the request of the United States government over allegations of cybercrime and financial fraud.
According to a statement by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, Adepoju is facing a seven-count indictment in the Western District of Pennsylvania, which includes six counts of wire fraud and one count of computer fraud.
He was arrested on September 15, 2025 and is currently awaiting extradition to the U.S.
U.S prosecutors say Adepoju infiltrated the email system of a construction company contracted by a university in Pennsylvania between March and April 2023.
After gaining access, he allegedly altered internal email settings, created a fake domain to impersonate company staff and sent fraudulent payment instructions to the university.
The university, believing the emails to be legitimate, updated its vendor payment details and transferred approximately $235,266 (about ₦363 million) to a bank account under Adepoju’s control.
Authorities say the funds have not been recovered.
Acting U.S Attorney Troy Rivetti described the crime as a sophisticated cyberattack targeting both a business and a university.
“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,” Rivetti said.
“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 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 to know one thing: the FBI and our partners are not going to let you get away with it.”
“Email compromise schemes are not victimless crimes. They are one of the costliest threats facing businesses, universities, and organizations today.”
If convicted, each wire fraud count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and the computer fraud count carries up to 5 years.
The FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office led the investigation, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark V. Gurzo is prosecuting the case with support from the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs.
Authorities emphasized that the charges are merely allegations and that Adepoju remains presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
