RALEIGH, N.C. - A Fayetteville man arrested on charges of naturalization fraud, document fraud, and making false statements in naturalization proceedings had an initial appearance today before United States Magistrate Judge Brian S. Meyers in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A federal grand jury had returned an indictment charging Abdelfatah Khadir, age 44, a naturalized citizen of the United States, born in Morocco, residing in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with naturalization fraud, document fraud, and making false statements in naturalization proceedings.
According to the indictment, Khadir knowingly failed to disclose during his naturalization proceedings that he had committed the crime of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. Khadir was thereafter naturalized as a United States citizen on March 25, 2016.
Khadir is charged in a six-count indictment with naturalization fraud, document fraud, and making false statements in naturalization proceedings. If convicted of naturalization and document fraud, he faces up to a maximum imprisonment term of 25 years per count, a $250,000 fine per count, and a term of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. A conviction for naturalization fraud also carries an automatic revocation of United States citizenship. If convicted of false statements in naturalization proceedings, he faces up to a maximum imprisonment term of 5 years, a $250,000 fine, and a term of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
The North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Registry states in its public website that Khadir was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a 9 year old victim on March 25, 2019. Khadir, according to the Registry, committed the offense on April 9, 2017, was sentenced to a suspended term of imprisonment of 19 to 32 months and placed on probation for 60 months.
Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement. Agents with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations, assigned to the Document Benefit Fraud Task Force, are investigating the case as part of Operation False Haven. Operation False Haven is an ongoing initiative to identify and prosecute egregious felons who fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.
A copy of this press release is located on our website.
An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
