Family of beloved B&B owner in row over £800,000 property after being ‘groomed’ by Serbian taxi driver

The devastated family of a Birmingham aunt who lost up to £800,000 in an alleged property scam are ready to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights. Family members seek justice for Milka Sormaz after tragedy unfolds in Serbia.

The 92-year-old settled in Birmingham after moving to Britain from the former Yugoslavia in 1958. She ran a successful B&B on Bunbury Road in Bournville after retiring from Rover. Later in life, she made regular trips back to Serbia and was stuck there when the pandemic hit.

Her family said she was friends with a taxi driver and his wife in the Serbian capital Belgrade. They claimed she became increasingly isolated from them and was “groomed like easy prey” as she was very old with signs of dementia.

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Within months of meeting the couple, Milka was reportedly forced to sign complicated legal documents. Her family said the papers essentially wiped out ownership of her real estate portfolio. Her will also changed with the taxi driver as the main benefactor, including the Birmingham B&B. Milka’s nieces said she was left ‘alone, vulnerable, helpless’ and suffering from signs of Covid.

Milka, who had no children, never returned to Birmingham and sadly died in October 2021. Her family discovered that a three-bedroom apartment with four shops and three garages, including a Mercedes, that she owned in Belgrade was sold in 2018 . about 20 percent of their value. It was also alleged that money for the properties had been withdrawn from her bank account.

Her niece Dubravka Arsenovich raised the case with prosecutors in Serbia, but made no progress. Dubravka’s lawyer has since appealed to the country’s Constitutional Court, but said they had waited a year for a decision on whether there was a case to be answered. Milka’s loved ones said they were prepared to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Dubravka, 46, from Northfield, told BirminghamLive: “We have a huge file of evidence to support our case and to prove that our aunt – who was very old and vulnerable – was the victim of a great injustice. We have little choice but to seek help and remedy this through the European courts when the Constitutional Court in Serbia denies us the basic human right to testify. Dubravka has contacted her local MP, who has forwarded her case to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and we are awaiting their response.

A family friend told BirminghamLive: “In Belgrade the properties are worth around £500,000. The B&B is worth approximately £300,000, making a total of £800,000. The most important thing for the family is not about the money – but about the principle that must be overcome. the injustice.

‘Milka had a three-bedroom flat with three garages and four shops in Belgrade. She also had the B&B here in Birmingham. The properties in Belgrade are said to have gone bankrupt and she has family there and the two nieces in Britain and two grandchildren to whom she was so attached.

“She sold her apartment within months of meeting this man. Its value was over £150,000, but she sold it for €30,000 (£25,700), including its contents. There are indications that the money ended up in her account, but that it was immediately debited. the same day and he was with her.

“Dubravka brought this case of serious neglect to the public prosecutor in Belgrade, but they were denied a voice because the case was dismissed without her family being given the right to present or submit any evidence. The family subsequently appealed this decision to both the Constitutional Court and the public prosecutor.

“They received an immediate rejection from the public prosecutor – a decision to reject this appeal was made on the same day the appeal was filed. However, their lawyer was shocked to learn of this decision seven months later. Dubravka is still waiting for a response from the Constitutional Court as their last hope for justice. She’s been waiting for this for over twelve months. The family claims that refusing evidence is a violation of their human rights.

Milka’s family also had to fight to repatriate her body back to Britain. The family friend added: “Milka died in hospital and the family were denied access to their aunt’s flat by the taxi driver and his wife to collect all her personal belongings such as clothes, photos and passport.

“The British Embassy in Belgrade helped and managed to arrange all the paperwork for their deceased aunt to be transferred to Britain where she belonged. None of her other personal items were handed over as they claimed that all items were now theirs .” Her death certificate stated that she had dementia and Milka was buried next to her husband at Brandwood End Cemetery in Kings Heath.

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