Former CT Resident Accused Of Lying To Get Citizenship While Hiding From War Crimes In Bosnia Enters Plea

CONNECTICUT — A naturalized U.S. citizen from Bosnia and Herzegovina pleaded guilty on November 10, 2025, in Bridgeport federal court to criminal charges related to her lying about her prior criminal conduct to obtain U.S. citizenship, prosecutors said.

The woman has been identified as Nada Radovan Tomanic.

"The defendant obtained the privileges of U.S. citizenship through lies and deceit, concealing the violent crimes she committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said. "The Department is fully committed to holding accountable those who exploit our immigration system and pose a threat to public safety."

Said said U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan for the District of Connecticut, "{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."

Added Special Agent in Charge P.J. O’Brien of the FBI, "Individuals who lie on their naturalization documents undermine the process for all who justly apply to be a part of our great nation. 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."

According to court documents, Tomanic, 53, of West Virginia amnd formerly of Hartford, served with the Zulfikar Special Unit of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, during the armed conflict in the region. Along with other Zulfikar Special Unit soldiers, Tomanic participated in the physical and psychological abuse of Bosnian Serb civilian prisoners., according to case records.

When applying for U.S. naturalization in 2012, Tomanic falsely denied having served in a detention facility or in any other situation involving the detention of others, accordingf top case records. She also falsely denied having committed a crime for which she had not been arrested – specifically, the crime of inflicting serious bodily harm under the Criminal Law of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, accorrding to case records.

Tomanic’s deception extended beyond her written naturalization application, investigators said.

During her interview with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer, she was placed under oath and, despite being "legally obligated to answer questions truthfully," she again lied about her service in a detention facility and her past criminal conduct, prosecutors said.

Tomanic pleaded guilty to one count of procuring citizenship contrary to law. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 3, 2026, and faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

Trial Attorney Elizabeth Nielsen of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angel Krull and Anastasia King for the District of Connecticut are prosecuting the case, with assistance from HRSP historians. The Criminal Divisions Office of International Affairs also provided assistance.

The FBI is investigating the case, with coordination provided by the Department of Homeland Security’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office of Fraud Detection and National Security, along with the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit. The Justice Department thanks authorities from Bosnia and Herzegovina, to include the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska Ministry of Interior, Serbian authorities, and the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, who were instrumental in providing assistance that aided in furthering the investigation.