A Senior USCIS Officer Allegedly Sold Green Cards and Citizenship for Cash.
Nearly $960,000 of It, Mostly on Biden-Era USCIS’s Watch.
A federal criminal complaint filed August 31, 2026, in the Northern District of Texas alleges that Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, a former Senior Immigration Services Officer at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, ran a bribery scheme out of his own federal desk for more than six years — approving green cards, family sponsorship petitions, and naturalization applications in exchange for cash, prosecutors say, while bypassing the background-check procedures the job exists to enforce.
Ganiyu and an alleged financial accomplice, Adeniyi Akeem Somoye, were arrested September 2 and made initial court appearances September 3. Both are charged only — not indicted by a grand jury — and both are presumed innocent. Ganiyu's attorney says his client denies any criminal conduct.
The math prosecutors laid out is stark on its own. But the accountability question the case raises is about timing: of the roughly 75 months the alleged scheme ran, the clear majority unfolded while Ur Jaddou, appointed by President Biden, directed USCIS. Detection, investigation, and prosecution all happened only after the current administration took over the agency.
- $960,000 — total alleged bribery scheme value, per the federal complaint · Source: Fox News (DOJ statement)
- 75 months — the alleged scheme's span, December 2019 through March 2026 · Source: Fox News
- ~64% — of that span (about 48 of 75 months) fell under Biden-appointed USCIS Director Ur Jaddou, Jan. 20, 2021 – Jan. 20, 2025
- $407,838 — Ganiyu's reported total USCIS salary, 2020–2025, for comparison against the alleged bribe total · Source: American Bazaar
- 5 years — maximum federal prison term each defendant faces per count if convicted, plus fines up to $250,000 · Source: Fox News
Ganiyu joined USCIS in November 2018 and worked adjudication postings in Kansas, Texas, and North Carolina before his April 2024 promotion to Senior Immigration Services Officer in Dallas — the post he held when investigators say the scheme was still running. USCIS's Office of Investigations, the DHS Office of Inspector General, and the FBI's Dallas Field Office formally opened the investigation in May 2025. Ganiyu resigned from USCIS on March 21, 2026, citing personal reasons, five months before he was charged.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham is prosecuting the case alongside U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould's office. Both defendants face up to five years in federal prison per count and fines up to $250,000 under the illegal-gratuities statute if convicted — a significant “if” this early in the process. Nothing in the complaint has been tested at trial, and Ganiyu's attorney, Alfonso Cabanas, has publicly disputed the government's characterization of the transactions at issue.
The complaint alleges that from December 2019 through March 2026, Ganiyu used his USCIS position to unlawfully approve or expedite immigration applications in exchange for bribes — Form I-485 green card applications, family sponsorship petitions, petitions to remove conditions on permanent residency, and naturalization applications among them — while bypassing the background-check procedures those forms are supposed to trigger.
One detail stands out for the conflict of interest it describes: prosecutors say Ganiyu approved his own alleged financial accomplice's naturalization application, the same day, in December 2022 — Somoye becoming a U.S. citizen through the same official the complaint says he was paying.
The complaint puts the total alleged bribery scheme at roughly $960,000, broken into several payment streams: $671,438 in payments to Ganiyu sent via Zelle, Cash App, and other payment platforms; $287,830 in unexplained cash deposits into his bank accounts; $138,392 in bank transfers from Somoye between May 2023 and January 2026; and $21,900 more from a company prosecutors say Somoye managed. For comparison, Ganiyu's reported total USCIS salary from 2020 through 2025 was $407,838— the alleged bribe total outpaces more than five years of his government pay.
“Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust... 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.”
Ryan Raybould, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Texas
Separately, and distinct from the $960,000 bribery figure, reporting on Somoye's own financial activity puts the broader volume of funds he is alleged to have processed or transferred at roughly $1.7 million — a wider figure covering more of his financial dealings, not a second bribery total layered on top of the first.
Break the alleged 75-month scheme down by who ran USCIS at the time, and the accountability picture is lopsided. Roughly 13 months, December 2019 through January 20, 2021, fell under Trump-administration acting USCIS leadership led by Ken Cuccinelli. Roughly 48 months — nearly two-thirds of the entire alleged scheme — ran during the Biden administration, January 20, 2021 through January 20, 2025: Acting Director Tracy Renaud led the agency for the first six-plus months of that stretch, and Ur Jaddou (Biden-appointed USCIS Director, confirmed by the Senate that July) ran it for the remaining roughly 41 months, through the end of the Biden term. The remaining roughly 14 months, January 20, 2025 through Ganiyu's March 21, 2026 resignation, fell under the current Trump administration's second term.
The detection side of the ledger runs the other direction. USCIS's Office of Investigations, DHS's Inspector General, and the FBI opened their probe in May 2025 — under the current administration — and the case was charged by the current Trump-era Justice Department. USCIS also rolled out enhanced fingerprint-based background-check re-vetting nationwide in late April 2026, a policy change that followed this case's fallout.
Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu — former Senior Immigration Services Officer, USCIS Dallas; charged by complaint, not indicted; denies criminal conduct through counsel.
Adeniyi Akeem Somoye — alleged financial accomplice; charged by complaint; presumed innocent.
Ur Jaddou — Biden-appointed USCIS Director, confirmed July 2021, served through Jan. 2025; oversaw the agency for most of the Biden-era span of the alleged scheme (Acting Director Tracy Renaud led USCIS for the first six-plus months of the Biden administration). No allegation in the complaint accuses her of personal wrongdoing.
Ryan Raybould — U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Texas, prosecuting the case for the current administration's DOJ.
R. Joseph Rothrock — FBI Dallas Special Agent overseeing the investigation.
FBI Dallas Special Agent R. Joseph Rothrock put the stakes in national-security terms: “The alleged manipulation of immigration decisions for personal gain undermines the integrity of a process essential to our national security.” USCIS itself, in a statement to reporters, said: “USCIS employees are held to the highest standards of professional and ethical behavior. There is no place in this agency for corruption, abuse of authority, or violations of public trust.”
Ganiyu and Somoye are charged, not convicted, and both are entitled to the presumption of innocence a criminal complaint doesn't erase. What the complaint's own timeline shows, if its allegations hold up, is that the bulk of the alleged corruption happened on Biden-era USCIS Director Ur Jaddou's watch — while the exposure, investigation, and prosecution all happened only after the current administration took over the agency's leadership and its case files.
