Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York | Department of Justice
A Russian citizen, Nomma Zarubina, has pleaded guilty in federal court to making false statements to the FBI about her relationship with the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) and to naturalization fraud. The plea was entered before Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in New York. Sentencing is scheduled for June 11, 2026.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated, “While Nomma Zarubina was trying to cultivate relationships with American law enforcement, civil society organizations, and others, she was lying to the FBI about her ties to the Russian Federation. Today’s plea demonstrates our commitment to protecting the integrity of the naturalization process and reinforces that those who lie to federal authorities will incur serious consequences.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr., commented on Zarubina’s admissions: “After years of lies, Nomma Zarubina finally confessed to her repeated denial to FBI special agents of her contacts and relationship with Russian intelligence services, as well as to her failure to disclose her involvement in an interstate prostitution network in an effort to secure U.S. citizenship. Zarubina’s intentional concealment of her misconduct and her lies about her affiliation with Russian intelligence were an affront to law enforcement’s national security efforts. The FBI continues to defend our homeland from those who seek to impede federal investigations and deceive U.S. authorities.”
According to court documents and public statements made during proceedings, Zarubina began meeting with the FBI around October 2020 as part of an investigation into Elena Branson—a Russian national later charged for acting as an unregistered foreign agent—who had a close relationship with Zarubina.
In meetings with federal agents in April 2021 and September 2023, Zarubina denied having any substantial contact with Russian intelligence services apart from a single interview by the FSB when traveling back from Russia. However, in June and July 2024, she admitted that these statements were false. She revealed that while in Russia in December 2020 she met an FSB officer—agreeing to assist them under the code name “Alyssa”—and maintained regular contact using encrypted messaging apps through mid-2022. The FSB officer directed her activities including gathering journalist contacts in the United States and attending events such as the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Additionally, between at least 2018 and 2024 while living in the United States, Zarubina took part in transporting women between New York and New Jersey for prostitution at a massage parlor business located in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Despite this involvement, she falsely answered on a July 2022 naturalization application that she had never procured anyone for prostitution.
Following indictment and release on bail pending trial, Zarubina attempted unlawfully to influence a witness by sending numerous unsolicited messages—including harassing communications—to one of the FBI agents involved in her case; this conduct persisted despite warnings from the Court and led ultimately to revocation of her bail.
Zarubina faces up to five years’ imprisonment each for making false statements and for naturalization fraud; actual sentencing will be determined by judicial discretion.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s New York Field Office Counterintelligence Division along with assistance from the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section. Prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah L. Kushner, David J. Robles, and Henry L. Ross from the National Security and International Narcotics Unit.
