- Federal prosecutors charged Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye in a USCIS bribery scheme.
- Investigators say the operation involved nearly $960,000 in immigration payments from December 2019 through March 2026.
- The defendants face up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
Federal prosecutors charged former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services senior officer Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu and alleged financial intermediary Adeniyi Akeem Somoye in a bribery case involving nearly $960,000 in immigration payments, including money tied to citizenship applications.
The defendants face conspiracy charges in the Northern District of Texas. Prosecutors allege that Ganiyu used his government position to steer applicants around ordinary case procedures, while Somoye helped move and collect money.
Free toolSubstantial Presence Test Calculator
The Justice Department announced the case on September 5, 2026. Their initial court appearances took place on September 2, 2026.
Ryan Raybould, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, described the alleged conduct as a breach of the public’s trust.
“Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust.”
The alleged operation ran from December 2019 through March 2026, prosecutors said. Both men are charged with conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official.
Prosecutors describe files moved outside ordinary USCIS controls
The allegations center on applicants who were allegedly routed directly to Ganiyu rather than handled through normal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services procedures. Prosecutors say he bypassed criminal background checks, interviews and other standard processing steps in exchange for payments.
Investigators also identified communications through WhatsApp messages. The case alleges that Ganiyu pulled files from USCIS field offices in Minneapolis, Charlotte and Houston, then bypassed local supervisors while handling them.
Court documents cited in the case say Ganiyu received roughly $671,438 through Zelle and Cash App. He also received $287,830 in cash deposits.
The alleged payments covered immigration favors. Citizenship cases formed a central part of the allegations, but prosecutors also described other immigration benefits handled through the arrangement.
The alleged money trail reaches beyond the bribe payments
Somoye allegedly served as the financial intermediary. Investigators say he processed about $1.7 million in transfers involving applicants and deposited $449,010 in cash.
The two figures describe different parts of the alleged financial activity. Prosecutors say the scheme’s identified bribe payments totaled nearly $960,000, while the broader transfer volume attributed to Somoye reached about $1.7 million.
Most of the citizenship applications reportedly involved applicants from African countries. The allegations also include fast-tracked residency benefits for Somoye’s wife and child.
The prosecution’s description places the alleged intermediary role alongside the alleged official misconduct. Ganiyu is accused of altering or bypassing agency handling, while Somoye allegedly arranged payments and relayed applicants into the process.
The alleged favors included citizenship and expedited residency
The case describes a system in which applicants allegedly sought favorable treatment instead of ordinary adjudication. Prosecutors say Ganiyu’s access to immigration files allowed applicants to avoid safeguards designed to test eligibility and verify information.
Those safeguards included background checks and interviews. The alleged conduct also extended to standard processing steps that normally govern cases across field offices.
Chad Meacham, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Fraud Section, is prosecuting the case. The charges expose both the alleged government insider and the alleged intermediary to federal criminal penalties.
Each defendant faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.
The allegations do not establish that every applicant connected to the cases participated in wrongdoing. Immigration consequences could depend on the facts of an individual filing, including whether an applicant knew about payments, made false statements or received a benefit through improper handling.
Investigators may trace affected files through the agency
The alleged movement of files across Minneapolis, Charlotte and Houston gives investigators multiple field-office records to examine. WhatsApp communications, digital payment records and cash deposits also form part of the alleged trail described in the case.
That combination could bring scrutiny to applications that appeared to move unusually quickly or bypassed local review. Cases may be examined for irregular routing, missing screening steps or statements connected to the alleged payments.
The potential effect reaches beyond naturalization. The allegations include citizenship applications and residency benefits, meaning different immigration filings could be reviewed as investigators trace the operation’s applicants and transactions.
Applicants who receive a request for evidence, notice of an interview or other agency communication should respond based on the facts of their own cases. Any person concerned that a filing involved bribery, false information or an undisclosed intermediary may need individualized immigration and criminal-law advice.
The charges remain allegations. The case now proceeds through federal court, where prosecutors must prove the accusations beyond a reasonable doubt. The alleged conduct, according to the charging theory, continued through March 2026, only months before the defendants’ September court appearances.
