A 57-year-old Nigerian-born engineer has admitted steering $1.64 million meant for the repair of decrepit buildings in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, to himself and relatives.
Adebanjo “Banjo” Popoola, a former building inspector with the City of St. Louis, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three counts of wire fraud.
Popoola was a building division inspector with the City of St. Louis at the time and was responsible for managing important aspects of two programs designed to aid in the stabilizing and rehabilitating of city properties, Stable Communities STL and Prop NS. Stable Communities STL was funded through federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and intended for privately owned properties.
Prop NS was intended for residential properties owned by the city’s Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) and was funded through city-issued general obligation bonds.
Popoola was primarily responsible for identifying properties for rehab or stabilization; developing the scope of work; seeking, reviewing, and awarding bids; inspecting the work that had purportedly been completed on each property; and then certifying that the work had been completed so funds could be disbursed to the contractors.
On Tuesday, he admitted to having his sister, a Texas resident who had never visited St. Louis, incorporate Farst Construction LLC in Missouri in October of 2022.
His future wife set up a different company in February of 2021, Premier Finish Contractors LLC.
