Nigerian-born US immigration official allegedly made $960,000 selling Green Card ‘connections’ before his arrest

• A former USCIS official allegedly took nearly $960,000 to manipulate immigration applications.

• Prosecutors say he bypassed interviews, background checks and supervisory reviews.

• Investigators uncovered thousands of WhatsApp messages linked to the alleged scheme.

Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, a former Senior Immigration Services Officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), has been arrested alongside his alleged associate, Adeniyi Akeem Somoye, over a scheme allegedly involving taking nearly $960,000 to manipulate and fast-track immigration applications.

The pair were arrested on September 2, 2026, after federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint accusing them of conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the alleged scheme ran from December 2019 to March 2026. 

During that period, Ganiyu allegedly used his position to approve immigration applications in exchange for money, including applications for permanent residency, family petitions and US citizenship. 

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Prosecutors allege Ganiyu did not simply speed up applications that were already eligible for approval. He allegedly manipulated the process itself.

Among the actions outlined by investigators were:

• Bypassing required applicant interviews

• Skipping supervisory reviews

• Circumventing criminal background checks

• Ignoring jurisdictional restrictions

• Taking control of applications assigned to other USCIS offices

• Approving applications that prosecutors say did not meet federal requirements

Some of the cases were allegedly taken from USCIS offices in Minneapolis, Charlotte and Houston and reassigned to Ganiyu, allowing him to process them himself.

The applications included Form I-130 family petitions, I-485 applications for permanent residence, I-751 petitions to remove conditions on residence and N-400 applications for naturalisation.

Investigators also uncovered thousands of WhatsApp messages and hundreds of phone calls involving Ganiyu, Somoye and people whose immigration cases they allegedly handled. 

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According to prosecutors, about $671,438 was received through electronic transfers, including Zelle and Cash App, while another $287,830 allegedly came through cash deposits. 

Somoye allegedly served as a financial intermediary in the scheme, with investigators tracing roughly $1.7 million in transaction activity connected to him. That figure is different from the nearly $960,000 prosecutors say represented the alleged bribery proceeds.

The distinction matters because the $1.7 million figure refers to transaction volume associated with Somoye, not the amount prosecutors allege Ganiyu and Somoye collected in bribes.

Prosecutors say Ganiyu fast-tracked Somoye's citizenship application and later approved permanent residency applications for Somoye's wife and child.

That allegation, if proven, would mean the alleged arrangement was not limited to helping strangers navigate America's immigration system. The complaint also accuses Ganiyu of using his official authority to benefit the person prosecutors describe as his financial associate.

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For many Nigerians, the case may sound familiar for a different reason.

In Nigeria and across parts of the diaspora, the idea of knowing someone who can “help” move a difficult bureaucratic process along is hardly unfamiliar. Sometimes it means legitimate assistance. At other times, it can blur into unofficial payments or influence.

But America's immigration system operates under a very different level of federal oversight.

The allegations against Ganiyu show what can happen when an informal connection-based approach allegedly enters a system where immigration decisions are supposed to be governed by documented eligibility, background checks, interviews and multiple layers of review.