An FBI agent

By Josh Lanier From Daily Voice

A Bosnian-born woman who formerly lived in Hartford has been found guilty of lying to get American citizenship after she hid alleged war crimes and violent acts from immigration officials, federal authorities said. 

Nada Radovan Tomanic, who now lives in West Virginia, admitted to lying for years to gain citizenship, the US Attorney for Connecticut said on Friday, Nov. 14. 

Federal investigators say Tomanic, 53, once served in the Zulfikar Special Unit of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1990s war. Court documents say she took part in the physical and psychological abuse of Bosnian Serb civilian prisoners.

When she applied for U.S. citizenship in 2012, officials say she denied serving in any detention setting and denied committing a crime for which she had not been arrested. Investigators later found those statements to be false.

During her naturalization interview, she was placed under oath but again lied about her past, according to the Justice Department.

“Individuals who lie on their naturalization documents undermine the process for all who justly apply to be a part of our great nation," FBI Special Agent in Charge P.J. O’Brien said. “Tomanic’s admissions of fraud are detestable because of her history of targeting people based on their ethnicity and religion.”

Tomanic pleaded guilty to one count of procuring citizenship contrary to law. She faces up to ten years in federal prison. A judge will decide her sentence after reviewing federal guidelines and other factors.