First-instance verdict handed down for Izet Čeliković and the company 'Dekor' Banovići

(Patria) - The Cantonal Court in Tuzla has rendered and published a guilty first-instance, non-final verdict for the owner and director of the company „Dekor“ Banovići, Izet Čeliković (61), as well as for the aforementioned legal entity, for the extended criminal offense of tax evasion. The court sentenced Čeliković to 3 years in prison, while the legal entity Dekor Banovići was fined 30,000 KM. Additionally, the first-instance verdict orders the confiscation of the property gain obtained through the criminal offense in the amount of approximately 265,000 KM (upon finality).

We recall that the indictment of the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office of Tuzla Canton charges Čeliković, as the owner and director of the company Dekor Banovići, for the period from 2011 to the end of 2013, acting contrary to the provisions of the relevant legal regulations, he failed to present the required data on the acquired taxable income and avoided paying the contributions prescribed by the tax legislation in the Federation of BiH.

Namely, while performing finishing construction works on certain residential buildings, Čeliković collected the amount of the contracted works in cash through assignment and delegation agreements from natural persons - apartment buyers, and the collected amount of funds was not handed over to the cash register and deposited into the company's account, nor was it shown in the business books, but he recorded the cash payments made in the company's business records as uncollected. After that, he made decisions on the write-off of doubtful and disputed receivables older than 12 months for 2011, 2012 and 2013, and in this way wrote off and derecognized the already collected receivables, which had taken on the character of income, on which he did not calculate, report and pay taxes to the Tax Administration of the FBiH in the aforementioned amount of approximately 265,000 KM.

The company Dekor, as a legal entity, is accused of having disposed of the illegal property gain obtained by the director and owner of this company.