Overview
- Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, a Nigerian citizen living in the U.K., was arrested on Sept. 15 on a U.S. request and is awaiting extradition to Western Pennsylvania.
- A seven-count indictment unsealed on Sept. 18 in the Western District of Pennsylvania charges six counts of wire fraud and one count of computer fraud.
- Authorities allege he remotely accessed a construction company’s computer in March–April 2023 to alter email settings and impersonate employees.
- The university transferred approximately $235,266.80 to a fraudulent bank account after receiving spoofed payment-change emails, and the funds remain unrecovered.
- The FBI Pittsburgh Field Office led the investigation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark V. Gurzo is prosecuting with support from DOJ’s Office of International Affairs, and the charges carry maximum penalties of up to 20 years per wire-fraud count and five years for computer fraud.