Having held a guilty plea agreement consideration hearing and a sentencing hearing in the case of Armin Pačariz et al., on 15 July 2024 the Court delivered and pronounced a Trial Judgment finding the accused Armin Pačariz, as the manager and responsible person at the legal entity “MMF” d.o.o. Kakanj, and Faruk Smaka, who effectively managed the company’s business operations, guilty of the continued criminal offense of Tax Evasion or Fraud under Article 210(4), as read with Paragraph 1, of the CC BiH, all in conjunction with Articles 29 and 54 of the Code.

The Court sentenced the accused to one (1) year of imprisonment each, and fined them as follows: Armin Pačariz with 1,000.00 BAM, which the accused shall pay towards the BiH budget within 1 month of the day when the Judgment becomes final, and the accused Faruk Smaka with 4,000.00 BAM, which the accused shall pay towards the BiH budget within 4 months of the day when the Judgment becomes final.

Pursuant to Article 198(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH, the accused Armin Pačariz and Faruk Smaka have an obligation to compensate the injured party - Bosnia and Herzegovina - for the damage caused by the commission of the criminal offense, by paying, jointly and severally, 228,016.00 BAM towards the BiH budget, within 30 days of the day when the Judgment becomes final.

The accused have been found guilty as follows: Armin Pačariz, as the manager at the legal entity “MMF” d.o.o. Kakanj, and Faruk Smaka, who effectively managed the company’s business operations, having previously agreed on the procurement and delivery of goods and the providing of services on behalf of the legal entity, together, during the 2017-2019 period, with full knowledge and intent, evaded the payment of dues prescribed by the BiH tax legislation in the total amount of 228,016.00 BAM, in the manner that, operating in accordance with a previous arrangement, they entered false data on the acquired taxable income in tax records and self-taxation returns concerning the legal entity of “MMF” d.o.o. Kakanj, with the aim of reducing their tax obligations.