Senior immigration official and alleged moneyman caught accepting $960K in bribes for citizenship favors: prosecutors
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 mount...