圣路易斯前建筑检查员诈骗164万美元获刑六年：把修缮合同批给家人公司、谎称工程完工
美国司法部密苏里东区联邦检察官办公室11月4日宣布，密苏里州圣路易斯（St. Louis）市前建筑检查员 Adebanjo "Banjo" Popoola（58岁）被联邦法官 Zachary M. Bluestone 判处六年联邦监禁，并被责令偿还其从两个房屋修缮计划中窃取的164万美元。
Popoola 任职于圣路易斯市建筑部门，负责管理 Stable Communities STL 与 Prop NS 两个旨在稳定、修缮破旧房产的计划：前者由联邦《美国救援计划法》资金支持、面向私人业主房产，后者由一般义务债券出资、面向市土地再利用局持有的住宅。他主要负责挑选待修缮房产、制定工程范围、招标评审与授标、验收工程并确认完工以便向承包商拨款。
据量刑备忘录，Popoola 把41份合同批给 Farst Construction LLC——一家由他协助其姐姐组建的公司，其姐姐是住在 Texas、无建筑背景的护士；又把50份合同批给 Premier Finish Contractors LLC——一家由他协助未婚妻组建的公司。助理联邦检察官 Hal Goldsmith 写道，他把 Stable Communities STL 计划拨款总额的42%给了姐姐与妻子的公司，并向市府隐瞒自己在两家公司中的角色。多处工程两家公司根本没有施工，他却虚假确认工程已完整、合格完工。
Popoola 与家人从骗局中获利1,642,908美元，赃款被用于支付住宅房贷、多次购车与修车、旅行、2023年9月在 Hawaii 的婚礼、赌场赌博及其他餐饮娱乐开支。圣路易斯市长 Cara Spencer 在陈述中称，因其罪行，市府可能须向联邦退还数百万美元的救援计划资金，调查期间冻结付款也连累了无辜承包商、并耽误了包括2025年5月龙卷风受损建筑在内的其他稳定工程。一名 Rowan Avenue 楼宇业主在受害人影响陈述中写道，48,500美元修缮款被窃后，建筑留下严重的、未处理的结构性破损。
Popoola 今年6月在圣路易斯联邦法院就三项电汇诈骗罪认罪。本案由联邦调查局（FBI）调查、圣路易斯市主计长办公室大力协助，助理联邦检察官 Hal Goldsmith 起诉。（来源：美国司法部）
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)
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：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)
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