A woman originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina has pleaded guilty in a Bridgeport federal court to charges related to lying about her criminal past in order to obtain U.S. citizenship. Nada Radovan Tomanic, 53, now of West Virginia and formerly of Hartford, Connecticut, admitted on November 10, 2025, that she concealed her involvement in violent crimes during the Bosnian conflict when applying for naturalization.
According to court documents, Tomanic served with the Zulfikar Special Unit of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s. She participated with other unit members in physically and psychologically abusing Bosnian Serb civilian prisoners.
When applying for U.S. citizenship in 2012, Tomanic falsely stated that she had never served at a detention facility or committed any crime for which she had not been arrested. During her interview with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer—while under oath—she repeated these falsehoods.
“The defendant obtained the privileges of U.S. citizenship through lies and deceit, concealing the violent crimes she committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department is fully committed to holding accountable those who exploit our immigration system and pose a threat to public safety.”
“Covering up past human rights abuses to attain U.S. citizenship is an egregious offense, and I thank our law enforcement partners both here in the U.S. and in Bosnia and Herzegovina for investigating this matter to ensure that justice is done,” said U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan for the District of Connecticut.
“Individuals who lie on their naturalization documents undermine the process for all who justly apply to be a part of our great nation,” said Special Agent in Charge P.J. O’Brien of the FBI. “Tomanic’s admissions of fraud are detestable because of her history of targeting people based on their ethnicity and religion. The FBI, along with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Office of Fraud Detection and National Security will continue to investigate crimes of this nature to ensure the sanctity of the immigration process for all who righteously apply for U.S. Citizenship.”
Tomanic pleaded guilty to one count of procuring citizenship contrary to law; sentencing is set for February 3, 2026, where she faces up to ten years in prison.
The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Elizabeth Nielsen from the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angel Krull and Anastasia King from Connecticut, assisted by HRSP historians.
The FBI led the investigation with support from several agencies including Homeland Security’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC), USCIS’ Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS), as well as international cooperation from authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina—the Ministry of Justice there—and Serbian authorities plus assistance from United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.
Members of the public who have information about human rights violators residing in the United States are encouraged to contact either the FBI or Homeland Security Investigations through their respective tip lines or online forms.
