A former senior U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer and a second man are facing federal charges over an alleged years-long scheme in which prosecutors say immigration applications were manipulated and expedited in exchange for nearly $960,000 in illegal payments.
Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, a former Senior Immigration Services Officer, and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye were arrested and charged with conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official, according to federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Texas.
The allegations describe something considerably more serious than an employee occasionally cutting through bureaucratic red tape.
Prosecutors say the operation ran from approximately December 2019 through March 2026. During that period, Ganiyu allegedly used his government position to take control of immigration cases, expedite applications and bypass normal USCIS procedures.
Some applications allegedly skipped interviews or other required processing steps. Prosecutors also accuse Ganiyu of improperly transferring cases from USCIS field offices in Minneapolis, Charlotte and Houston so he could personally handle them rather than leaving them with the offices and supervisors normally responsible for those applications.
Somoye allegedly acted as an intermediary and financial facilitator.
According to prosecutors, investigators uncovered extensive communications involving the defendants and immigration applicants, including thousands of WhatsApp messages and hundreds of calls. Financial records allegedly showed Ganiyu receiving approximately $671,438 through services including Zelle and Cash App, along with roughly $287,830 in cash deposits.
Those figures total nearly $960,000.
🚨A Senior U.S. Immigration Official Charged In Alleged $960K Citizenship Bribery Scheme
Prosecutors say Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, a former Senior Immigration Services Officer, and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye took nearly $960,000 to fast-track citizenship and other applications.
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— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 7, 2026
Prosecutors further allege that Ganiyu expedited Somoye’s own naturalization application before helping process immigration benefits involving Somoye’s wife and child.
If proved in court, that allegation would raise obvious questions about how effectively internal safeguards at USCIS detected employees improperly taking control of applications.
The federal government entrusts immigration officers with significant authority. Applicants are expected to undergo established procedures, including identity verification, eligibility reviews and security screening where required. An official secretly selling preferential treatment would undermine both the integrity of that process and the applicants who follow the rules without paying someone on the inside.
The investigation also appears to extend beyond the two defendants.
Authorities reportedly identified communications with numerous immigration applicants whose cases were handled through the alleged arrangement. Any applicant suspected of knowingly paying an illegal gratuity could face additional scrutiny, although involvement in a case handled by the defendants would not, by itself, establish criminal wrongdoing.
The criminal charge against Ganiyu and Somoye carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if they are convicted. Actual sentences, if there are convictions, would be determined by a federal judge under applicable law and sentencing guidelines.
The scale of the allegations makes the case particularly significant. This was allegedly not a single questionable application or one improper favor. Prosecutors describe a system operating for more than six years in which government authority was allegedly converted into a source of private income.
Now comes the part that matters in a criminal case: proving it.
The allegations in the charging documents are not convictions, and Ganiyu and Somoye are presumed innocent unless prosecutors establish their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
If prosecutors can do that, the case will also leave USCIS with another important job, determining how the alleged conduct continued for years and whether every potentially compromised immigration case has been identified and properly reviewed.
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