Four people who were not U.S. citizens cast ballots in multiple federal elections—including two presidential races—and then lied about it when applying for citizenship, FBI Director Kash Patel announced on Friday.
The announcement comes as the FBI's Newark office has been active on noncitizen voting cases in recent months.
NTD News has contacted FBI Newark for additional information.
According to the indictments, which were returned on Dec. 22, 2025, both Bergen County men were noncitizens when they registered to vote in New Jersey, yet each signed a voter registration form falsely certifying that he was a U.S. citizen—a legal requirement to vote in any federal election. After their applications were approved, both men allegedly cast ballots in the November 2020 general election, which included races for president and vice president.
According to prosecutors, the alleged deception continued after the vote. Both Muzammal and Shakeel each submitted a Form N-400—a naturalization application that requires the applicant to swear under penalty of perjury that all information provided is truthful and complete. On those forms, both men allegedly claimed they had never registered to vote or cast a ballot in any federal, state, or local election.
During interviews with immigration officers conducted under oath, prosecutors say both men repeated such false claims.
According to the indictment, if convicted, each man faces up to one year in prison on the illegal voting charge, up to five years per count for certain false statement charges related to the naturalization process, and up to 10 years per count on additional false statement counts.
The Bergen County case was investigated by FBI special agents, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The prosecution falls under the office's Election Integrity Task Force, a coalition of federal law enforcement agencies focused on protecting the integrity of elections in New Jersey.