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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Crime & Justice

Nigerians Ganiyu, Somoye arrested over scheme to sell green cards, citizenship for cash

From Vanguard · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • Two Nigerian men, including a former USCIS officer, were arrested in the United States over an alleged scheme to manipulate and expedite immigration applications for illegal payments.
  • Prosecutors alleged that Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu bypassed required procedures and approved applications for people who may not have qualified.
  • Both defendants face a maximum sentence of five years on a conspiracy charge, according to the complaint.

Two Nigerians have been arrested in the United States over an alleged scheme to sell faster access to immigration benefits, including permanent residence and citizenship applications, for cash.

The defendants are Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu, a former senior officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Adeniyi Akeem Somoye. U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould announced the arrests. A federal criminal complaint filed on August 31 charged both men with conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official, and federal agents arrested them on September 2.

Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust.

· Ryan RaybouldThe U.S. attorney condemned the alleged sale of immigration benefits.

According to the complaint, Ganiyu allegedly used his official position from December 2019 through March 2026 to approve applications in exchange for money. The cases included petitions for relatives, applications for permanent residence, petitions to remove conditions on residence and naturalisation applications.

Investigators alleged that Ganiyu bypassed required interviews, supervisory reviews, jurisdictional restrictions, background checks and other USCIS procedures to speed up applications. Some applicants, the complaint alleged, did not qualify for the benefits they received under federal law. Investigators also identified payments that allegedly corresponded directly with immigration approvals and said the men collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from applicants.

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 RaybouldRaybould announced the arrests and described the alleged conduct as public corruption.

The investigation reportedly uncovered thousands of WhatsApp messages and hundreds of phone calls involving the defendants and applicants whose cases they handled. “Selling immigration benefits for cash is a blatant abuse of public trust,” 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 said the alleged conduct undermined the integrity of the U.S. immigration system. Ganiyu and Somoye made initial court appearances on September 2 before a U.S. magistrate judge. Each faces a maximum sentence of five years.

The alleged manipulation of immigration decisions for personal gain undermines the integrity of a process essential to our national security.

· R. Joseph RothrockThe FBI official described the alleged scheme’s impact on the U.S. immigration system.
About this summary

Originally published by Vanguard. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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