A former building inspector in St. Louis, Missouri, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of wire fraud after federal prosecutors accused him of funneling $1.67 million in public housing funds to shell companies operated by his sister and wife over a three-year period.
Adebanjo “Banjo” Popoola was indicted on March 12, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. He entered a plea of not guilty at his initial appearance on March 13 and is currently being held in federal custody.
As a building division inspector, Popoola’s official duties were to identify privately owned or city-owned properties for rehabilitation, develop scopes of work, bid out contracts, select contractors, inspect completed projects, and certify to the city comptroller that work had been finished and funds should be disbursed. Prosecutors say he used that authority to rig the system in his own favour.
Popoola directed his sister, a Texas resident with no construction background, to register Farst Construction LLC in Missouri in October 2022. His wife, identified in court filings as Tanya Garrett, incorporated Premier Finish Contractors LLC in February 2021, also allegedly at his direction. In some instances, Popoola himself received checks from the city and then endorsed and deposited them directly into Farst’s bank account.
The indictment states he steered approximately $1.4 million to Farst and $339,500 to Premier from the city’s Stable Communities STL program, and a further $1.3 million and $1 million respectively from the city’s Prop NS program. Together, the two companies received contracts accounting for 42 percent of the $7.99 million distributed through Stable Communities STL and 24 percent of the $5.6 million awarded through Prop NS.
Neither company performed the contracted work on multiple properties, but Popoola falsely certified to the city comptroller in each case that the work had been completed properly. He signed annual city disclosure forms in 2022 and 2023 declaring he had no personal or financial interest in any city contract.
In one transaction detailed by prosecutors, when Farst received a $29,500 payment in February 2023, Popoola’s sister immediately withdrew $15,000 into her personal account and then cut her brother a check for $10,000.
The money was used for mortgage payments, vehicle purchases and repairs, travel, casino gambling, and two airline tickets from St. Louis to Honolulu for Popoola’s September 2023 wedding in Hawaii, two of the three specific wire fraud counts listed in the indictment. The third count relates to a $5,380 payment to a Lexus dealership for car repairs.
The Missouri State Auditor launched a separate, broader investigation into the city’s Building Division on March 26, 2026, prompted by whistleblower complaints and a public request from former Mayor Tishaura Jones. The auditor’s office said it would examine not only the millions that moved through the stabilization programmes but the division’s overall operations. The city shut down both housing programmes in 2025 due to mismanagement concerns.
Wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led the investigation with substantial cooperation from the St. Louis Comptroller’s Office. Charges in an indictment are accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
