A U.S. grand jury indicted Banjo Popoola, a Nigerian working as a building development inspector in St Louis, Missouri, for fraudulently awarding multimillion-dollar construction contracts to his sister and wife in return for kickbacks traced to a lavish wedding Mr Popoola held with his second wife in Hawaii, casino gambling, luxury car purchase and repairs and so on.

As a building development inspector, Mr Popoola’s job was to identify dilapidated private properties, take bids for their renovation and select the contractor to execute the project. It was also his responsibility to inspect the completed project, certify the work done and recommend the contractor for payment.

Mr Popoola took advantage of his position when he asked his sister, who lived far away in Texas, to open a Missouri-based construction company, Farst Construction LLC, in October 2022, despite lacking any major experience in construction. This was after he solicited his lover to incorporate her company, Premier Finish Contractors LLC, in February 2021.

Between February 2021 and August 2024, the Nigerian man had ripped the U.S. government of over $4.7 million in fraudulent contracts awarded to his wife and sister, personally pocketing over $1.6 million. He cashed some cheques written in the companies’ names since their debit cards were in his possession.

Not only did Mr Popoola use multiple fake addresses, including one belonging to his ex-wife, for Farst LLC, but he also certified projects that were never executed as completed and recommended them to STL and NS Props building programs for payment.

“One and more of the rehabilitation and stabilisation projects under both the Stable Communities STL and the Prop NS programmes, Farst failed to perform the rehabilitation and stabilisation work as contracted, but Popoola falsely certified to the City’s Comptroller that the work had been performed completely and properly,” stated the indictment sheet dated March 11.

While living with his wife and maintaining joint accounts as a couple, Mr Popoola awarded 10 contracts worth over $1.5 million to Premier, his wife’s company, under the Stable Communities STL programme. He gave Farst, his sister’s company, 13 contracts worth approximately $1.8 million.

Under the NS programme, Mr Popoola caused eight contracts worth $339,500 to be awarded to Farst and 23 contracts worth $1,035,100 to be awarded to Premier.

The indictment noted that Mr Popoola’s conduct violated the U.S state code, given that he had signed an annual St. Louis Employee Secondary Employment Questionnaire in 2022 and 2023, stating that he had no interest in the awarded contracts.

The Justice Department argued that Mr Popoola’s sworn statements were false, given his obvious affiliations with the companies he ran indirectly through his wife and sister, and that his actions violated the rules of the U.S. system.

“These certifications were false, based upon Popoola’s various ongoing interests in Farst and Premier. Popoola was well aware of these false certifications contained in the contracts as he caused the drafting and issuance of these contracts to both Farst and Premier,” the indictment filed by U.S. attorney Thomas C. Album at the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division. 

The Justice Department traced the scam money to residential mortgage payments, flight tickets, several automobile purchases, including a Lexus, his luxury wedding in Hawaii, casino gambling, and other entertainment expenses.

He is facing three counts of wire fraud, and the Department of Justice seeks forfeiture of at least $1.6 million.