DETAILS OF THE VERDICT Uzunović sentenced to 10 years in prison: With an off-shore network, he siphoned millions from Bosnalijek

(Patria) - The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued and publicly announced a first-instance verdict in the case of Nedim Uzunović and others (S1 2 K 031467 24 K) in which the accused Nedim Uzunović, Jasmina Uzunović, Sead Uzunović, Nadija Ćukle, Munir Ćukle, Alma Turajlić, Vedad Tuzović, Bogdan Joković, were found guilty of committing the stated criminal offenses, and the Court imposed prison sentences as follows:

Nedim Uzunović – criminal offense of organized crime under Article 250, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of BiH, in conjunction with criminal offenses of abuse of position or authority under Article 383, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of FBiH, concluding a harmful contract under Article 252, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of FBiH, and money laundering under Article 209, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of BiH, for which the Court, based on legal provisions, imposed a prison sentence of ten (10) years.

Jasmina Uzunović, Sead Uzunović, Alma Turajlić – criminal offense of organized crime under Article 250, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of BiH, in conjunction with the criminal offense of money laundering under Article 209, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of BiH, for which the Court, based on legal provisions, imposed a prison sentence of one (1) year each.

Munir Ćukle, Nadija Ćukle, Vedad Tuzović, Bogdan Joković – criminal offense of organized crime under Article 250, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of BiH, in conjunction with the criminal offense of money laundering under Article 209, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of BiH[1], for which the Court, based on legal provisions, imposed a prison sentence of one (1) year each.

Simultaneously, legal entities Serreta investing d.o.o., Sarajevo, Libero 5 d.o.o., Konjic, and Turist Best d.d. Konjic, were found responsible for committing the criminal offense of organized crime under Article 250, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of BiH, in conjunction with the criminal offense of money laundering under Article 209, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of BiH, all in conjunction with Article 124, paragraph 1, point c) of the Criminal Code of BiH, for which the Court, based on legal provisions, imposed a fine of 2,500,000 KM (two million five hundred thousand convertible marks) each, which fines the accused legal entities are obliged to pay within 6 (six) months from the date the verdict becomes final.

Simultaneously, the property benefit acquired through the commission of the criminal offense is confiscated from the accused, as well as from the legal entity Impericon Alliance Corporation from Seychelles, for which legal entity the Court determined that Nedim Uzunović is the beneficial owner.

Regarding the accused Anel Vrtić, the indictment is dismissed, and based on legal provisions, the property benefit acquired through the commission of the criminal offense is confiscated from the accused Anel Vrtić, namely cash in the amount of 6,711.65 KM and 1981 shares of the company Turist Best d.d. Konjic, which amount the accused is obliged to pay into the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina within 30 (thirty) days from the date the verdict becomes final.

The accused are charged with being members of a mutually connected and organized group of people, organized by Nedim Uzunović with the aim that members of the group, through mutual connection and agreement, organize, prepare, and commit acts with other persons and independently, which acts, in their mutual connection of actions and consequences, have the characteristics of criminal offenses prescribed by the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, through which group members would achieve common or individual unlawful benefits in money, material goods, or other forms of benefit, to which group the accused E.H., Sead Uzunović, Jasmina Uzunović, Nadija Ćukle, Munir Ćukle, Alma Turajlić, convicted Aziz Šukalo, Vedad Tuzović, Bogdan Joković, and other persons known to them, as well as legal entities Serreta investing d.o.o. Sarajevo, Libero 5 d.o.o. Konjic, Turist Best d.d. Konjic, and the unavailable person E.G. d.o.o. Rogoznica, consciously and willingly joined. To obtain property benefits, they acted at least during the period from 2005 to 2016, in such a way that Nedim Uzunović, in his capacity as director of the Representative Office of Bosnalijek d.d. in Moscow, after establishing at least two off-shore companies – Impericon Alliance Corporation from Seychelles and Serreta Investing Inc. from the British Virgin Islands, opened bank accounts for Impericon Alliance Corporation in Latvia and for Serreta Investing Inc. in Cyprus.

These accounts were managed by Nedim Uzunović, acting contrary to the interests of the legal entity Bosnalijek d.d. Sarajevo, concluding contracts for the alleged provision of marketing and consulting services, and paying for these services, although aware that the services for which the funds were paid were not performed by the off-shore companies, from the accounts of the company Bosnalijek d.d. Sarajevo, through other companies. The indictment further states that Nedim Uzunović, in order to conceal the nature, origin, and source of the funds which he knew were acquired through criminal activity, as the beneficial owner of the aforementioned off-shore companies, and at the same time the director of the Representative Office of Bosnalijek d.d. in Moscow, transferred funds from the accounts of the off-shore companies to his own accounts and the accounts of members of the organized group, including the accused legal entities, thereby damaging the legal entity Bosnalijek d.d. Sarajevo in the amount of 10,849,609.43 KM, an amount from which the accused acquired unlawful property benefit for themselves, disposed of and used it in business operations, purchased movable and immovable property in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, placing the money, which they knew was acquired through the commission of a criminal offense, into legal financial flows.