There are all kinds of fraudsters, and there always will be, in all countries and systems. Our country is not worse in this respect than others, but it is worse than many countries (organized, democratic, and wealthy) in that it does not sanction fraudsters.
In principle, I have not said anything new, but I would still write about it because I read on the Legalis.hr forum the story of a businessman who has experience dealing with a company that went bankrupt. He asks the moderator whether in that case the same person (the sole member of the company and the sole member of the management board) can open another company outside the EU. The moderator replies that he is not sure because countries outside the EU (many, if not all) will not check the business history of the company’s founder in that country, but ultimately concludes that he can.
And then the entrepreneur writes that his colleague, whose company in Croatia went bankrupt, opened another one in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, the activity is the same, the names of the companies are very similar, and, of course, the owner is the same. He writes that Pero Perić (a fictitious name; unfortunately, the entrepreneur does not mention either his name or the name of the bankrupt company) is the founder and director of the company MRMLJ Zagreb. ‘This company sent us a preliminary offer for the supply of goods X last month. Later, after an agreement, it sent a firm offer for the supply of goods X.’ However, the company MRMLJ Zagreb is blocked due to three hundred thousand euros in debts on its balance sheet, and since October 31, it has a temporary bankruptcy administrator.
Damage to Creditors
Pero Perić is also the founder and director of MRMLJ Bosnia (a fictitious name), a company registered somewhere in that neighboring country shortly before the bankruptcy of his company in Croatia. About fifteen days after the Croatian company went bankrupt, the entrepreneur received a pro forma invoice from MRMLJ Bosnia for the same goods X that he ordered from MRMLJ Zagreb. Clearly, the entrepreneur concluded that these are two related companies with the same founder, the same director, but with different headquarters (in the EU and outside it). And now the entrepreneur is in doubt because if he pays that pro forma invoice and the money goes to the account of the company MRMLJ Bosnia, he wonders whether he will harm the creditors of MRMLJ Zagreb with whom he started that business. He suspects fraud and rightly concludes that this could be established based on the Criminal Code (Article 249, paragraph 1, points 1 – 4). Namely, that provision clearly states that anyone who causes over-indebtedness or inability to pay in economic transactions or is in a state of over-indebtedness or inability to pay that threatens or has occurred through illegal actions will be punished. In the description of those illegal actions in the Criminal Code, the case of the mentioned entrepreneur, who transferred his business due to the bankruptcy of the company in Croatia to a neighboring country, is clearly recognized. For such and all other cases, the law provides for a prison sentence of six months to five years. I also want to emphasize that not all entrepreneurs are fraudsters because, of course, sometimes companies go bankrupt simply because it is their fate, even though their directors/owners managed them diligently as best they could, and such people should be given a new opportunity.
