Having held a guilty plea agreement consideration hearing and a sentencing hearing, on 3 July 2020, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina delivered a judgment in the case of Vesna Čolović et al. finding the accused Vesna Čolović guilty of the criminal offense of Tax Evasion or Fraud under Article 210(1) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC BiH), and the legal entity of „AQUA-LIFE“ DOO Sokolac of the criminal offense of Tax Evasion or Fraud under Article 210(1) CC BiH as read with Article 124 CC BiH.
The Court imposed a suspended sentence of 1 (one) year in prison on the accused Vesna Čolović, while ordering that the sentence shall not be carried out unless the accused commits another criminal offense within three (3) years of the date when the judgment becomes final. The Court fined the accused legal entity “AQUA-LIFE“ DOO Sokolac with 7,000.00 BAM.
Pursuant to Article 110 CC BiH, the accused Vesna Čolović and the accused legal entity of “AQUA-LIFE“ DOO Sokolac have the obligation to return the ill-gotten gain proportional to the tax evaded, in the amount of 37,399.00 BAM. The accused shall pay the foregoing amount towards the BiH budget within (6) months of the day when the judgment becomes final under threat of enforcement.
The accused Vesna Čolović has been found guilty that, as a person authorized to represent the above company in internal and foreign trade operations and as a director with unlimited powers at the,,AQUA-LIFE“ DOO Sokolac legal entity, during the tax period of 2017, by providing false information on the taxable turnover in the tax return forms, she evaded the payment of VAT in the total amount of 37,399.00 KM, which is the amount of damage caused to the BiH budget. The accused legal entity „AQUA LIFE“ DOO Sokolac is liable for disposing with the ill-gotten gain in the amount of 37,399.00 KM obtained in its name and for its benefit by Vesna Čolović as its director-responsible person.
