CONNECTICUT — A former Connecticut woman who was a naturalized U.S. citizen from Bosnia and Herzegovina was sentenced this week to 30 months in prison for naturalization fraud based on lies about her prior criminal conduct to obtain U.S. citizenship, federal authorities said.
According to statements made in court and court documents, Nada Radovan Tomanic, 53, now of West Virginia, 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, Tomanić participated in the severe physical and psychological abuse of Bosnian Serb civilian prisoners, including torture and inhuman treatment amounting to a war crime, according top 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, according to 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, according to case records.
Tomanic’s deception extended beyond her written naturalization application. procecutors said. During her interview with a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officer, she was placed under oath and was legally obligated to answer questions truthfully, they said. Despite that obligation, she again lied about her service in a detention facility and her past criminal conduct, according top case records.
“The defendant tortured and abused prisoners in Bosnia and then lied to U.S. immigration authorities to live in the U.S. and become a citizen,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Human rights violators are not welcome in the United States. Thanks to the courage of the victims, and the diligence and dedication of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners, the defendant has been held accountable for exploiting our immigration system and evading responsibility for her crimes.”
It was a team effort.
“I sincerely appreciate the investigative work of our law enforcement partners both here in the U.S. and in Bosnia who have disregarded the passage of decades to ensure that justice is served,” said U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan for the District of Connecticut. “There is no statute of limitations for human decency.”
Said said Special Agent in Charge P.J. O’Brien of the FBI New Haven Field Office. “This case has always been about more than lying on naturalization documents,” Over the course of this investigation Tomanic’s violent history of targeting people based on their ethnicity and religion came to light, and we hope that the sentencing gives some measure of justice to her victims. 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.”
Tomanić pleaded guilty on Nov. 10, 2025, to one count of procuring citizenship contrary to law.
The FBI investigated 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.