A Nigerian citizen, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, has been arrested in the United Kingdom following a United States request for extradition over charges of wire fraud and computer fraud totaling more than $235,000.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Adepoju was arrested by U.K. authorities on September 15, 2025, and is awaiting extradition to the United States to face a seven-count indictment in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
He is accused of using sophisticated cyber techniques to defraud a university in Pennsylvania out of $235,266.80 between March and April 2023.
Alleged offenses
Court filings allege that Adepoju gained unauthorized access to a construction company’s email system while the company was performing work for the university.
- He then created rule changes in an employee’s account, registered a spoofed domain, and impersonated another company employee via email.
- Through this scheme, Adepoju allegedly tricked university staff into updating the company’s payment details to his fraudulent bank account, leading to the transfer of funds that have not been 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 U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti.
“His arrest in the United Kingdom underscores our commitment to aggressively locate and prosecute cybercriminals worldwide,” he added.
BEC threat
The FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, which led the investigation, emphasized that email compromise schemes remain one of the costliest threats to businesses and institutions.
“We will find you and bring you to justice, no matter where you might be,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek.
- Adepoju faces six counts of wire fraud and one count of computer fraud. Each wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, while the computer fraud offense carries up to five years.
- The actual sentence, if convicted, would depend on the federal sentencing guidelines and his criminal history.
- The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark V. Gurzo, with support from the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs.
What you should know
In a similar development in August, a Nigerian national, Chukwuemeka Victor Amachukwu, was extradited to the United States from France to face charges related to computer hacking, identity theft, and wire fraud schemes that allegedly defrauded U.S. tax authorities and victims out of millions of dollars.
Amachukwu, who also goes by the aliases “Chukwuemeka Victor Eletuo” and “So Kwan Leung,” appeared before Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger shortly after his arrival.
His case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
