Justice Department Files Denaturalization Complaint against Bosnian War Persecutor Who Fraudulently Obtained U.S. Citizenship

Today, the Department of Justice filed a civil complaint to revoke the citizenship of Kemal Mrndzic, who failed to disclose during his immigration proceedings that he served as a guard at the notorious Čelebići prison camp during the Bosnian War. At Čelebići, prison guards subjected Bosnian-Serbs to beatings, torture, sexual assault, starvation, and murder.

“The allegations in this complaint demonstrate the value this Administration places upon both the integrity of its naturalization process and, more importantly, ensuring that those who persecute others based on protected bases, especially in war time, do not reap the benefits of refuge in the United States by gaming America’s immigration process,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

In October 2024, a federal jury found Mrndzic guilty of several criminal fraud and misrepresentation counts relating to his successful efforts to obtain a naturalization certificate and a U.S. passport. The jury’s guilty verdict established that Mrndzic falsified and misrepresented information material to his naturalization eligibility.

Among other facts, Mrndzic failed to disclose to immigration authorities the nature and timing of his military service during the Bosnian War. Specifically, he failed to disclose that he persecuted Bosnian-Serb inmates as a prison guard at Čelebići. Mrndzic’s 2024 conviction established his ineligibility to naturalize, as the Justice Department alleges in the naturalization revocation complaint.

This case is being civilly prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, Affirmative Litigation Unit, after extensive investigation by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and criminal prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.