In September 2023, the prosecutor’s office of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed an indictment against the former director of Bosnalijek’s Moscow office, Nedim Uzunović, ten other individuals and four legal entities, for organised crime, money laundering and other offences, in relation to the extraction of funds from the country’s biggest pharmaceutical company, Bosnalijek, which was partially owned by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time. The resulting financial damage, according to the prosecution, amounts to BAM10.8 million (app. €5.5 million), which was used to buy Bosnalijek’s shares, real estate properties, vehicles and other assets.

Uzunović was arrested in December 2021, suspected of organised crime, abuse of position, concluding harmful contracts and money laundering in relation to the extraction of resources from Bosnalijek through his offshore firms. The court of Bosnia and Herzegovina then also blocked 23.6% of Bosnalijek shares owned by KBC Euro Credit Capital, suspecting that this Malta-based fund was controlled by Uzunović, as well as other Uzunović’s properties in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to the indictment, as the director of Bosnalijek’s Moscow office, and later, from 2005 to 2016, Uzunović extracted funds from Bosnalijek via fake consultancy and marketing services contracts through at least two offshore companies, Impericon Alliance Corporation from the Seychelles and Serreta Investing Inc from the British Virgin Islands, which he established through intermediaries. To hide the nature, sources and origin of this money, he transferred it to his own bank accounts and accounts of members of his organised group, the indictment states. The illegally obtained money was then put into legitimate financial channels through purchases of various properties in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

One of the accused in this case, Aziz Šukalo, signed a guilty plea agreement in March 2024, according to which he admitted guilt to organised crime in relation to money laundering. He received a one-year prison sentence, a monetary fine of BAM73,000 (app. €37,000), while his illicitly acquired property benefits of around BAM460,000 (app. €235,000) were confiscated.

This case shows how funds from companies in which the state has stakes can be extracted at the expense of public interest. The length of time of extraction in this case, spanning a period of more than a decade, sends a negative message to the public that corrupt behaviour can go for long period without being sanctioned.