The Municipal Court in Travnik has sentenced Bugojno lawyer Emina Begić to two years and four months in prison, in a verdict that is not yet final, the Centre for Investigative Reporting (CIN) confirmed with the court. In the same case, her brother Adnan Hozić, a Municipal Councillor from Bugojno, was given an 11-month suspended sentence, which will not be enforced provided he commits no new criminal offences within two years.
The Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of the Central Bosnia Canton (SBK) charged Begić in 2019 with abusing the trust of at least three clients, misappropriating approximately 1.4 million BAM of their money, and forging documents, with her brother charged for aiding and abetting. The injured parties are legally illiterate and elderly people who hired Begić to help them with their real estate transactions.
The court did not provide CIN journalists with information on any compensation awarded to the victims, explaining that the verdict has yet to be formally written. As this is a first-instance decision, both the convicted parties and the Prosecutor’s Office have the right to appeal.
CIN journalists have closely followed this case, publishing details in the story titled “Millions Through A Power Of Attorney”.
While this criminal case was ongoing, another case was initiated against lawyer Emina Begić at the same court for a similar offence. The Central Bosnia Canton Prosecutor’s Office (SBK) filed charges in February 2023, accusing her of abusing the trust of a client and unlawfully withholding approximately 250,000 BAM of the client’s money.
Due to these criminal proceedings, the Bar Association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) initially decided to suspend Begić’s licence to practise. However, the Supreme Court of the FBiH overturned this decision on appeal, allowing her to continue working as a lawyer.
Nevertheless, if the prison sentence handed down by the Municipal Court in Travnik is upheld, she will lose this right. Under the FBiH Law on the Legal Profession, any lawyer sentenced to an unconditional prison term of six months or more automatically loses the right to practise from the date the verdict becomes final.
