A former senior U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer and his alleged financial accomplice are accused of pocketing nearly $960,000 in bribes to illegally fast-track green cards and citizenship for applicants who should not have qualified, according to federal prosecutors. Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye were located in Texas and made their initial court appearances last Wednesday, prosecutors said.
According to the New York Post, Ganiyu and Somoye bypassed standard immigration procedures, including criminal background checks, as part of the scheme. Court documents cited by the outlet allege Ganiyu received $287,830 in cash deposits structured to conceal the money's source, while Somoye received $449,010 in cash deposits of his own. Prosecutors said Ganiyu rigged the USCIS system to control and fast-track applications in exchange for payouts.
The federal criminal complaint, filed last Monday, lays out how Ganiyu allegedly manipulated four specific application categories — Form I-130 petitions for alien relatives, Form I-485 applications to register permanent residence, Form I-751 petitions to remove conditions on residence, and Form N-400 naturalization applications — to unlawfully expedite approvals from December 2019 through March, according to the Department of Justice. Prosecutors allege Ganiyu routinely skipped required in-person interviews, mandatory background checks, supervisory reviews, and standard jurisdictional limits, as reported by Townhall.
A Personal Stake in the Scheme
Ganiyu allegedly did more than process Somoye's applications for a fee — he approved residency for Somoye's wife and child and fast-tracked citizenship for Somoye himself, per the New York Post's reporting. Somoye, described by prosecutors as Ganiyu's financial accomplice, reported just $7,506 in legitimate annual wages, yet court documents show he handled roughly $1.7 million in transfer volume and allegedly skimmed a portion of applicants' bribes as his own payment. Ganiyu, meanwhile, earned $67,732 in annual government pay and allegedly received roughly $671,438 via Zelle and Cash App between December 2019 and March, according to court documents referenced by the outlet.
Investigators say the two men exchanged money back and forth with citizenship applicants, and the case was built in part on WhatsApp messages exchanged with those applicants. Prosecutors said Ganiyu and Somoye processed applications primarily for applicants from African countries. Ganiyu resigned from USCIS in March, citing personal reasons, the Post reported.
Case Files Pulled From Distant Field Offices
Perhaps the most striking detail in the complaint is how far Ganiyu's reach allegedly extended. Prosecutors said he hijacked applications from USCIS field offices in Minneapolis, Charlotte, and Houston — jurisdictions far outside his normal authority — raising questions about how internal agency controls failed to flag an officer pulling case files from across the country.
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould, who leads the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas, did not mince words about the alleged conduct. “Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust,” Raybould said. He added, “When a federal official puts a price tag on lawful status, authorities will intervene immediately.” Raybould was nominated by President Trump in October 2025 and confirmed by the Senate in May, after previously serving as Deputy Chief of the office's White Collar and Public Corruption Unit, according to the Department of Justice.
Charges and Potential Penalties
Ganiyu and Somoye were charged with conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official under federal statute, a felony that carries up to five years in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000 each. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham from the fraud section is prosecuting the case. The investigation was carried out jointly by the USCIS Office of Investigations, the DHS Office of Inspector General, and the FBI's Dallas Field Office.
The Northern District of Texas covers a sprawling 96,000-square-mile jurisdiction serving roughly eight million residents across cities including Dallas, Fort Worth, Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene, San Angelo, and Wichita Falls, per the Department of Justice. The office has ramped up immigration-related enforcement this year, charging 184 repeat criminal alien offenders with illegal reentry over a two-month span ending in late August, the agency said.
Part of a Broader Pattern of USCIS Corruption Cases
This is not the first time a USCIS insider has been accused of trading immigration favors for cash. In Philadelphia, former USCIS officer Amara Dukuly pleaded guilty in March to aiding and abetting the bribery of a public official after accepting cash bribes, including $6,000 to manipulate internal immigration files. Hoodline has previously reported on similar schemes, including a Pennsylvania fraud officer soliciting bribes, a JFK border officer's bribery case, and a former NYC ICE official who admitted selling secrets for cash, per Hoodline.
The Ganiyu and Somoye charges also land amid heightened scrutiny of USCIS application processing nationwide. The agency implemented enhanced fingerprint-based background checks in late April, requiring re-vetting and temporary holds for pending green card and naturalization applications across the country, according to SG Legal Group. It remains unclear how many total ineligible applicants may have gained legal status through the alleged scheme, or whether any approvals tied to the case will face administrative revocation or denaturalization proceedings.
