FAKE DIPLOMAS: Škrbić sentenced to one year in prison, University of Victoria fined 300,000 KM and another 70,000 KM to be confiscated

(Patria) - The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 09/29/2025, after holding a hearing to review the plea agreement and a hearing for the imposition of a criminal law sanction, rendered and publicly announced a first-instance verdict in the case of Vojislav Škrbić and others, by which the accused Vojislav Škrbić was found guilty of committing the criminal offense of association for the purpose of committing criminal offenses from Article 249, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of BiH, in conjunction with the criminal offenses of illegal trade from Article 212, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of BiH and abuse of official position or authority from Article 315, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of RS in conjunction with Article 39 of the Criminal Code of RS, all in conjunction with Articles 29, 53, and 54 of the Criminal Code of BiH.

For the committed criminal offenses, the Court imposed a single prison sentence of one (1) year on the accused Vojislav Škrbić. As a secondary penalty, the Court imposed a fine of 5,000.00 KM on the accused, which he is obliged to pay within 30 (thirty) days from the date the verdict becomes final.

Furthermore, the accused legal entity, the University "Victoria International University" Mostar, legal successor to the University of Modern Sciences "CKM" Mostar, was found responsible for committing the criminal offense of association for the purpose of committing criminal offenses from Article 249, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code of BiH, in conjunction with the criminal offenses of illegal trade from Article 212, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of BiH, abuse of official position or authority from Article 383, Paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code of FBiH and forgery of an official document from Article 389, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of FBiH, all in conjunction with Articles 29, 53, 54, and 124, points b) and c) of the Criminal Code of BiH.

For the committed criminal offenses, the Court imposed a single fine of 300,000.00 KM on the accused legal entity, which the accused legal entity is obliged to pay within one (1) year from the date the verdict becomes final.

At the same time, property benefits obtained through criminal activity are confiscated from the accused Vojislav Škrbić in the amount of 3,519.00 KM, and from the accused legal entity "Victoria International University" Mostar, in the amount of 70,000.00 KM, which the accused are obliged to pay into the budget of BiH.

The accused Vojislav Škrbić was found guilty of, as an associate of higher education institutions in BiH in various periods and an intermediary, together with other individuals known to him, on the territory of BiH, with the aim of obtaining unlawful property benefits, and by exploiting official position or authority or assisting in the same, carrying out the unauthorized buying and selling of public documents of higher education institutions, detailed in the verdict, namely diplomas, degrees, and titles, which cannot be the subject of public trade, to individuals interested in buying and obtaining diplomas, degrees, and titles without the actual completion of the educational process, i.e., without the actual fulfillment of the legal conditions of attending and completing one of the higher education cycles from Article 5 of the Law on Higher Education in BiH, all contrary to the objectives of higher education from Article 3 of the Law on Higher Education in BiH.

It is further stated that the accused carried out incorrect and retroactive entry of data and facts into the registry books and other official records of educational institutions, as well as documents that form an integral part of student files in the mentioned educational institutions, and for enrollment in educational institutions, they connected such individuals with employees or officials and responsible persons of universities, faculties, and higher education schools, or directly enrolled such individuals in educational institutions and took other actions to enable such students to obtain a diploma, thereby ultimately obtaining property benefits in an amount certainly exceeding 370,000.00 KM.

The accused legal entity "Victoria International University" Mostar was found guilty of, in various periods, carrying out retroactive registration of decisive, but untrue, facts in the registry books of this educational institution for individuals interested in buying and obtaining diplomas, degrees, and titles without the actual completion of the educational process, which registration was enabled by the organization of the University's work, as is reasonably suspected, by V.S., including falsely recorded enrollment dates as dates of alleged student enrollment, all in order to create the appearance of fulfilled conditions for issuing the mentioned diploma, degree, and title without the actual completion of the educational process.