An allegedly corrupt senior immigration official and his sleazy moneyman are accused of manipulating the US immigration process and approving citizenship applications for nearly $960,000 in bribes, authorities said on Friday.
Investigators discovered the reported racket through WhatsApp messages between former senior United States Citizenship and Immigration Services officer Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, his financial accomplice Adeniyi Akeem Somoye, and individual citizenship applicants.
The pair, located in Texas, bypassed standard procedures by funneling bribe-paying applicants directly to Ganiyu — skipping key steps in the immigration process like criminal background checks, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
Ganiyu rigged the USCIS system to seize control of applications, fast-tracking them for a payout, prosecutors said.
The senior official allegedly fast-tracked citizenship for his alleged partner in crime, Somoye, then green-lit residency for Somoye’s wife and child.
Ganiyu hijacked the system to snatch files from field offices in Minneapolis, Charlotte, and Houston — avoiding local supervisors to rubber-stamp the applications himself, according to the US attorney’s office.
Between December 2019 and March 2026, Ganiyu pocketed roughly $671,438 via Zelle and Cash App — plus $287,830 in cash deposits designed to hide the money’s source — from citizenship applicants, according to court documents obtained by The Post.
Acting as money manager, Somoye accumulated roughly $1.7 million in transfer volume, which is partially attributed to applicants via bank transfers, Zelle, and Cash App, skimming a portion of the applicants’ bribes as payment. He also deposited $449,010 in cash, according to the documents.
The illicit windfall dwarfs their meager reported incomes: Ganiyu pulled in a $67,732 annual government paycheck, while his moneyman Somoye claimed a measly $7,506 in legitimate yearly wages.
As the investigation mounted, Ganiyu was not immediately fired.
Instead, he quietly resigned from USCIS “due to personal reasons” in March 2026, just months before federal authorities moved in to arrest him.
The complaint notes that Ganiyu and Somoye frequently exchanged money “back and forth” with applicants, authorities allege.
This rapid churning of funds on digital apps inflated the total volume of money processed, leading to the $1.7 million figure.
Most of the citizenship applications they dealt with came from African countries, according to prosecutors.
“Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust,” said US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould in a statement on Friday.
“When a federal official puts a price tag on lawful status, we will intervene immediately.”
Ganiyu and Somoye are charged with conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official.
Their initial court appearances were held on Sept. 2. They each face up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
USCIS Office of Investigations, DHS Office of Inspector General and the FBI Dallas Field Office investigated the case.
Assistant US Attorney Chad Meacham from the Fraud section is prosecuting the case.
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