A former ranking official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is facing federal charges for allegedly accepting “illegal gratuities in exchange for manipulating and expediting immigration applications,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced.
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas revealed details in the case against Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye.
Ganiyu, who served as a Senior Immigration Services Officer at USCIS, collaborated with Somoye in the multi-year scheme, prosecutors allege.
The pair reportedly collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from applicants, many of whom received immigration approvals issued by Ganiyu.
Ganiyu is accused of “bypassing required interviews, supervisory review, jurisdictional limitations, background checks and standard USCIS processing protocols to unlawfully expedite approvals for applicants, many of whom were not eligible under federal law.”
Investigators say they reviewed “extensive WhatsApp communications” between Ganiyu, Somoye, and applicants, including thousands of messages and hundreds of calls.
A federal criminal complaint filed against both men on Aug. 31 charged them with conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official.
They were arrested on Sept. 2 and immediately appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.
Ganiyu and Somoye each face up to five years in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000.
“Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould.
“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.”
