How WhatsApp messages led to former USCIS official in $960,000 citizenship scam
A former USCIS official and an accomplice have been charged in a $960,000 bribery scheme involving the manipulation of immigration and citizenship applications. Investigators used thousands of WhatsApp messages to uncover how the pair fast-tracked cases by bypassing standard security and background checks.
Why it matters
The case exposes significant vulnerabilities in immigration processing systems and highlights the role of digital forensics in uncovering public corruption.
Thousands of WhatsApp messages and hundreds of phone calls helped investigators uncover an alleged bribery scheme involving a former senior U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) official, prosecutors say. Ex-USCIS official Lukman Owolabi Ganiyu and his alleged financial accomplice, Adeniyi Akeem Somoye, have been charged over a scheme in which they allegedly accepted nearly $960,000 to manipulate and speed up immigration benefit applications, including citizenship cases.As per a Fox News report, the two men were arrested on federal charges of conspiracy to receive illegal gratuities by a public official, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas. Prosecutors allege the scheme operated from December 2019 through March 2026 and involved applicants paying money in exchange for special treatment.How WhatsApp messages helped investigators trace alleged scamA key part of the investigation was the pair's digital communication with applicants.
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