West Virginia woman hid violent past in Bosnian war to become US citizen: DOJ

A naturalized US citizen living in West Virginia has pleaded guilty to federal charges after admitting she lied about her criminal history in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to obtain American citizenship.

53-year-old Nada Radovan Tomanic previously served in the Zulfikar Special Unit of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990s conflict. According to the Justice Department, Tomanic participated in the physical and psychological abuse of Bosnian Serb civilian prisoners during the war.

When she applied for US naturalization in 2012, Tomanic denied having served in a detention facility or having taken part in the detention of others. She also falsely denied committing a crime for which she had not been arrested. The DOJ said that the conduct involved inflicting serious bodily harm under the Criminal Law of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia.

When being interviewed by a US Citizenship and Immigration Services officer and placed under oath, she again lied about her past.

“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 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.”

Tomanic pleaded guilty to one count of procuring citizenship contrary to law. She is scheduled to be sentenced in February and faces up to ten years in prison.

“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 US and in Bosnia and Herzegovina for investigating this matter to ensure that justice is done,” said US Attorney David Sullivan for the District of Connecticut.