Credit: Gulbenk

A former senior immigration official and his associate have been arrested for allegedly turning America’s immigration system into their own personal cash machine.

The Justice Department announced Friday that Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, a former Senior Immigration Services Officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye were arrested on federal charges tied to an alleged multi-year corruption scheme.

Federal agents arrested both men on September 2 following a criminal complaint filed on August 31.

The pair is charged with conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official.

According to prosecutors, Ganiyu allegedly used his powerful position inside USCIS to approve immigration applications in exchange for money from December 2019 through March 2026.

This was allegedly an inside job at the agency responsible for determining who receives green cards—and who ultimately becomes an American citizen.

Investigators claim Ganiyu manipulated or expedited several types of immigration applications, including:

• Form I-130 petitions for alien relatives
• Form I-485 applications for permanent residence or adjustment of status
• Form I-751 petitions to remove residency conditions
• Form N-400 applications for United States citizenship

Even more alarming, prosecutors allege Ganiyu bypassed mandatory interviews, supervisory reviews, jurisdictional restrictions, background checks, and ordinary USCIS processing procedures.

Some of the applicants allegedly approved through the scheme were not legally eligible for the immigration benefits they received.

In other words, while law-abiding applicants waited in line and followed the rules, individuals with the right connections and enough cash allegedly received special treatment from someone operating inside the federal government.

Prosecutors say Ganiyu and Somoye collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from immigration applicants. Investigators allegedly identified payments that corresponded directly with approvals issued by Ganiyu.

Authorities also uncovered extensive WhatsApp communications between the defendants and applicants whose cases they allegedly handled, including thousands of messages and hundreds of phone calls.

Former Senior Immigration Services Officer with @USCIS and his associate were arrested on federal charges for their roles in an alleged multi‑year scheme to receive illegal gratuities in exchange for manipulating and expediting immigration applications.

👉https://t.co/up3Fm6tsvQ pic.twitter.com/9uGZUosUDn

— US Attorney NDTX (@NDTXnews) September 4, 2026

“Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said.

“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 warned that manipulating immigration decisions for personal profit undermines a process essential to America’s national security.

This is precisely why aggressive fraud investigations and strict oversight of America’s immigration bureaucracy are necessary.

The defendants made their initial court appearances on September 2. Each faces up to five years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 if convicted.