Hachikosela Muchimba was convicted of mail theft, bank fraud and unlawfully obtaining citizenship for a years-long scheme to steal checks from D.C. residents.
The scheme ran from at least December 2020 through March 2023. During that time, Muchimba, who immigrated to the U.S from Zambia, applied for and received naturalization as a U.S. citizen. According to court filings, by the time Muchimba first filed his naturalization application in September 2021 he had already stolen at least 28 checks. In total he deposited more than $450,000 worth of stolen checks into bank accounts he controlled while his application was being processed.
As part of the naturalization process, applicants are asked if they have ever “committed, assisted in committing or attempted to commit” a crime for which they have not been arrested or if they’ve ever given government officials false or misleading information. Prosecutors said Muchimba checked “no” in response to both questions.
“Muchimba’s lies to USCIS were not an accident,” prosecutors wrote. “They were deliberate, and he lied because he wanted citizenship – which he got due to his lies.”
Federal law requires judges to revoke the naturalization certificate of anyone convicted of unlawfully obtaining citizenship. In a filing last month, Muchimba’s attorney, Pleasant Brodnax III, said he was reviewing “the obligation of this Court… with respect to the process for this Court revoking Mr. Muchimba’s U.S. citizenship.”
In addition to the loss of his citizenship, prosecutors say Muchimba should serve nine years in prison and be ordered to pay restitution for the approximately $1.6 million he stole from postal customers. At least $415,000 was already recovered in March 2023 from a bank account controlled by Muchimba.
The fool that hired him needs to go to Zambia too.