Federal prosecutors on Monday charged six more foreign nationals in Los Angeles County with making false statements on naturalization forms after they allegedly registered to vote and cast ballots.
All six are lawful permanent residents who are not U.S. citizens, and each faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement that prosecutors have now charged 34 defendants in Operation Protect the Vote for such alleged acts. The Department of Justice (DOJ) describes the operation as an ongoing, coordinated federal effort in California to root out fraud in U.S. elections and protect electoral integrity.
The latest six face charges in the Central District of California for falsely claiming they had never registered to vote or claimed U.S. citizenship when seeking naturalization, according to the DOJ announcement.
The six have been identified as Sirgalahad Camua, 43, a Philippine citizen from Palmdale; Krystel Capi Valle, 31, a Mexican national from Palmdale; Moria Dahan, 35, an Israeli national from West Hills; Chad Goertz, 52, a Canadian citizen from Agua Dulce; Mahyar Nikzad, 35, an Iranian national from Canoga Park; and Gilberto Ruiz, 46, a Mexican citizen from Palmdale.
Camua registered to vote in 2009 by claiming citizenship and later voted by mail in 2020, 2024, and June 2026, according to an affidavit. Capi Valle registered in 2022 and voted that November. Dahan registered and voted in person on Election Day 2024. Goertz registered in 2018 and voted by mail in 2022 and 2024. Nikzad registered in 2024 and voted in the March and November elections that year. Ruiz registered in 2022 and voted by mail in three elections between 2022 and 2024.
Five defendants, Camua, Capi Valle, Dahan, Goertz, and Nikzad, were set for initial appearances in Los Angeles federal court Monday afternoon. Homeland Security Investigations is handling the investigation.
The charges follow 28 other noncitizens charged on Oct. 19 with unlawfully registering and voting in U.S. elections. Eleven were arrested that day, and all 28 were green card holders.
Essayli said, “There are thousands of suspected noncitizens on California’s voter rolls, and we renew our request for California to expeditiously work with us to verify the citizenship of those casting ballots in elections.”
On Oct. 16, the DOJ sued California and Los Angeles County after flagging more than 20,000 “likely noncitizens” on voter rolls. It asked officials to review the names and set aside related ballots pending citizenship checks.
California officials rejected the request, with Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan saying his office would not act on unverified data and declined to open a federal thumb drive containing the list, citing security and privacy concerns.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called the lawsuit “a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day”. He described the federal request as “a totally unprecedented request that should scare the hell out of every American.”
In California, anyone who applies for a driver’s license, identification card, or change of address and who indicates he is eligible to vote is automatically registered to vote unless he chooses to opt out.
A federal judge later denied the DOJ’s request to isolate the 20,000 mail-in ballots belonging to voters on the federal list of people the department described as “likely noncitizens” registered in the state. An appeals court also declined to intervene. The Supreme Court rejected an emergency bid on Monday, the day before the midterms.
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