Former St. Louis Building Inspector Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for $1.6 Million Fraud
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced on November 4 that Adebanjo "Banjo" Popoola, 58, a former City of St. Louis building inspector, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone to six years in federal prison and ordered to repay the $1.64 million he stole from two programs meant to repair decrepit buildings in St. Louis.
Popoola was a building division inspector responsible for managing important aspects of Stable Communities STL, funded through federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for privately owned properties, and Prop NS, funded through general obligation bonds for residential properties owned by the city's Land Reutilization Authority. He identified properties for rehabilitation, developed scopes of work, sought, reviewed and awarded bids, inspected the work and certified completion so funds could be disbursed to contractors.
According to the government's sentencing memo, Popoola steered 41 contracts to Farst Construction LLC, a company he helped organize with his sister, a nurse living in Texas with no construction background, and 50 contracts to Premier Finish Contractors LLC, a company he helped his fiancee organize. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith wrote that Popoola gave 42% of the total funds disbursed under Stable Communities STL to his sister's and his wife's companies, concealed his role from the city, and on multiple projects falsely certified work as complete when the companies had not performed it.
Popoola and his family members reaped $1,642,908 from the scheme, spending the money on residential mortgage payments, vehicle purchases and repairs, travel, his September 2023 wedding in Hawaii, casino gambling and other dining and entertainment expenses. St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said the city may have to return millions of dollars in ARPA funds because of the crimes, and that frozen payments during the investigation harmed innocent contractors and halted other stabilization work, including on buildings damaged by the May 2025 tornado. A building owner on Rowan Avenue wrote that the theft of $48,500 in repair funds left a building with severe, unaddressed structural decay.
Popoola pleaded guilty in June in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three counts of wire fraud. The FBI investigated the case with substantial cooperation from the City of St. Louis Comptroller's Office, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith prosecuted it. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 美国司法部总部大楼（联邦固定图库） / U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (federal fixed image library)
