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Former USCIS Official and Accomplice Charged in Alleged $960K Citizenship Bribery Scheme

Prosecutors say the pair accepted nearly $960,000 and bypassed standard USCIS checks to speed citizenship and other immigration benefits.

  • Authorities in the Northern District of Texas arrested former USCIS official Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye on Wednesday for an alleged multi-year scheme to receive illegal gratuities by manipulating and expediting immigration applications.
  • Ganiyu allegedly rerouted applications from USCIS field offices in Minneapolis, Charlotte, and Houston to bypass supervisors, while Somoye acted as an intermediary processing payments for the manipulated cases.
  • Somoye processed roughly $1.7 million in transfers, keeping a portion of payments, while prosecutors say Ganiyu accepted nearly $960,000 for favors including citizenship cases and bypassing background checks.
  • Before the arrest, Ganiyu resigned from USCIS citing "personal reasons," as Investigators uncovered thousands of WhatsApp messages and hundreds of calls documenting the illicit money exchanges.
  • Each defendant faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. "Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust," Attorney Ryan Raybould said.
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Former USCIS official, accomplice charged in alleged $960K citizenship bribery scheme

A former USCIS official and his accomplice allegedly accepted nearly $960,000 in bribes to fast-track citizenship applications, skipping key checks.

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La Opinion broke the news in Los Angeles, United States on Saturday, September 5, 2026.
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