A former senior U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officer and his associate have been arrested on charges that they took bribes to illegally grant immigration status to applicants, according to federal prosecutors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced the arrests on Friday, identifying the former official as Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, who had served as a senior Immigration Services Officer. Adeniyi Akeem Somoye, described as Ganiyu’s associate, was also arrested. Both face a charge of conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official.
“Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a press release. “When a federal official puts a price tag on lawful status, we will intervene immediately. Public corruption will never be tolerated in the Northern District of Texas.”
FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock echoed that sentiment, saying, “The alleged manipulation of immigration decisions for personal gain undermines the integrity of a process essential to our national security. The FBI and our law enforcement partners remain committed to holding accountable anyone who abuses their position of trust.”
Alleged Scheme Details
Prosecutors allege that Ganiyu used his position to expedite citizenship applications for migrants in exchange for cash payments. He reportedly bypassed required interviews, supervisory review, jurisdictional limits, background checks, and standard USCIS processing protocols to move applications forward for people who were not eligible.
The scheme reportedly operated through WhatsApp, where investigators discovered thousands of messages and hundreds of calls between Ganiyu, Somoye, and a group of citizenship applicants. Ganiyu allegedly accessed federal computers to pull case files from USCIS offices in Minneapolis, Charlotte, and Houston, then approved the paid applications himself.
According to the New York Post, the applicants paid Ganiyu approximately $671,438 via Zelle and Cash App, plus another $287,830 in cash deposits designed to conceal the source of the money. The payments reportedly began in 2019.
Discrepancy Between Income and Deposits
Investigators found that Ganiyu’s annual salary was only $67,732, yet he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in digital payments and cash deposits. Somoye, who reportedly had a legitimate annual income of just $7,506, amassed about $1.7 million and once deposited $449,010 in cash into a bank account.
Court filings suggest that after Ganiyu resigned from USCIS (he was not fired), he and Somoye continued making frequent financial exchanges through banks and cash apps, with some transactions occurring in African countries. The constant movement of money was allegedly intended to hide its trail from investigators.
Both men made their first court appearance on September 2. If convicted, they each face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/09/07/federal-immigration-official-arrested-for-taking-bribes-to-expedite-citizenship-applications/