Young plants sprout from a barren landscape near the village of Dobro, 25 miles north east of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Visoko region. On that bare land sits a large stone, branded with the word ‘Injazat’.
Three years ago, excavators were filmed at this site for a promotional video, as they cleared 18 hectares – around 25 football pitches – of forest. The video was filmed for Kuwaiti-owned company Poduhvati Buducnosti - Injazat Future (PB-IF), which had purchased 60 hectares of land in the Visoko region.
The land that was cleared that day was divided into plots, seemingly ready for sale. Yet nothing has been built on the site, leaving it bulldozed and bare for over three years.
According to local planning laws, construction is prohibited in much of this area, which sits in a protected water source zone and is deemed agricultural or forest land.
An investigation by Detektor and ARIJ has revealed that Dobro is no one-off. Injazat Future and a string of related companies including PB-IF, are cutting down forests in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to sell land to foreign investors who are often unable to build there.
Indictments
Injazat Future, which promotes itself as specialising in real estate, sells rural plots to investors from the Gulf, mainly targeting middle-income buyers at prices starting from 18,000 marks (around $10,500 USD) per 500 to 1000 square metres. The firm, owned by Nayef Abu Shaibah, operates in Bosnia and Herzegovina through several other companies, including Senyar, PB-IF, Deema, and one named after himself - Nayef Abu Shaibah. All are run by Abu Shaibah who has opened multiple branches of his companies in the country over the past 14 years.
Once cleared of trees and portioned into lots, the land is then offered to buyers at significantly marked-up prices. With idyllic scenes of land in the middle of Bosnian nature on Injazat Future’s Instagram, the firm has attracted buyers from around the Gulf, by convincing them that they can build houses on the land. Often, permits have not been secured.
Prosecutors suspect forests in Visoko have been illegally cleared by Injazat Future. In July 2025 and February 2026 the regional Prosecutor’s Office of the Zenika-Doboj canton, a province in Bosnia, filed two indictments for the criminal offence of forest devastation against the firm and individuals connected to the company.
February’s indictment, involving land just outside Dobro, alleges tree cutting was carried out by PB-IF on an area equivalent to 25 football fields, causing an estimated 150 thousand marks (around $90,000) of damage to the forest and local biodiversity.
The previous indictment alleges Injazat Future cut down a forest in the municipality of Visoko causing a barren area the size of five and a half football fields, causing 31 thousand marks (around $19,000). These proceedings are still ongoing.
Two weeks before the video of deforestation in Dobro was published by PB-IF in 2023, its owner, Abu Shaibah, met with Mirza Ganic, the mayor of Visoko.At the event, Abu Shaibah was presented with a painting as a gift from Ganic, who did not respond to Detektor’s inquiry about his connections with the Kuwaiti business man.
In 2022, in the same municipality, Injazat Future representatives had illegally begun the construction of two buildings. Salah Sulaiman Kshash Al-Nidawi, a manager involved in three of the four companies owned by Abu Shaibah, was one of two people convicted and fined by the Municipal Court in Visoko for illegal construction in May 2023.
Ghost projects
In 2020, in the village of Sutjescica near Breza, Abu Shaibah’s firms bought 2.5 hectares of land which was advertised on Injazat Future’s website as being for residential use. Elaborate designs were posted online, and stated that Injazat Future planned to construct 43 houses and a mosque on the land. It claimed the project would be worth 2 million Kuwaiti dinars (around 11 million marks or $6.5 million USD). However, Detektor found the land was unsuitable for construction, and despite Injazat Future selling it to investors, none of the buildings shown in the designs have been built.
According to Vedad Jusic, the mayor of Breza, the process of selling land to Arab investors in the area began in 2013. A group of Breza citizens purchased large amounts of land in areas not intended for construction at that time.
“Those plots were then sold to other individuals, legal entities, companies, and foreign investors” who wanted to build on the land, said Jusic. “However, for other reasons, such as the risk of landslides or being on forest land, it was not legally possible to build there.”
Construction on the land is only allowed if geological surveys and other stipulations are carried out, and only after consent has been given by the local planning authority. In practice, for the owners of this land, regulations mean possible multimillion investments in order to meet the conditions for construction, Jusic explained.
According to documents seen by Detektor, no such surveys have been carried out, nor consents granted thus far.
Warnings from the Gulf
In a video posted on social media in August 2024, Kuwaiti attorney Fahad Al-Hadad warned citizens about ongoing real estate scams in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Most of the affected people are Kuwaitis, especially in Bosnia,” said the attorney, who did not respond to Detektor’s request for an interview. He said real estate firms were selling land that was considered “agricultural, not residential” and not suitable for building on.
In September 2023, Khaled Al-Harbi, a Saudi influencer and vice president of the Consumer Awareness Raising Committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, posted a TikTok discussing the scandal. Under the alias ‘Abueyas’, Al-Harbi said an alleged large-scale land fraud scheme had been uncovered, involving companies that were said to have earned millions by selling “non-existent” plots of land in Bosnia and Herzegovina to investors around the world.
Al-Harbi said these companies manufacture fake documents of land ownership, often printed on simple, green A4 sheets. In his post, he mentioned a person with an “orange beard”, whom he did not name. People noted in the comments that Abu Shaibah had an orange beard, but the influencer did not respond. He also did not respond to Detektor’s invitation to discuss and clarify his claims.
In January 2026, Kuwaiti attorney Abdullah Alkhwash published a Kuwait court ruling where] an unnamed real estate company was obliged to pay a 13,000 dinar fine (equivalent to around 65,000 marks or $42,000 USD) after selling land in Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Kuwaiti citizen, which later proved unsuitable for construction.
Alkhwash explained to Detektor that the companies sell land plots with the promise of possibilitys for residential construction. Down the line investors then discover the land can only be used for agricultural purposes.
“I previously published warnings through my personal reports, emphasising the importance of caution, adhering to appropriate procedures, and conducting in-depth analysis before purchasing land or signing contracts,” Alkhwash said.
“It should be noted that all the cases I filed against these companies have been successful and none has been lost.”
He noted that there have been several rulings in similar cases, some of which ordered companies to terminate sales contracts due to failure to meet contractual obligations related to the construction of villas.
“Other judgements annul sales contracts after it was determined that the land was not intended for residential construction and the companies were ordered to return the amounts paid along with compensation,” said Alkhwash.
Due to the trend of fraudulent practices in Kuwait, at the end of 2024, then Minister of Commerce and Industry Halifa Abdullah Al-Ajil issued a recommendation stipulating that real estate can only be advertised with the owner’s consent, with accurate and complete information, and with notification of competent authorities. The recommendation states that it is forbidden to conceal defects that affect the value of the property or the decision to purchase.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Commerce did not respond to Detektor’s invitation to clarify this warning.
Powerful connections
Laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina prohibit foreigners from directly owning land. To bypass this, Abu Shaibah offers two options: registering land in the name of Injazat Future, with a waiver agreement that gives the buyer full usage rights, or establishing a Bosnian company owned by the buyer which he does not recommend due to “high taxes and lengthy procedures”.
Via his company’s social media feed, Abu Shaibah informs potential buyers from the Gulf that obtaining building permits takes about a month. Injazat Future also offers construction services on a “turnkey” basis, promotes investments in Bosnia as a “strategic opportunity”,and claims that the potential entry of Bosnia into the EU could increase real estate values.
His marketing largely relies on social media campaigns and showing off his connections with the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In one post, Nusret Cancar, the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Kuwait, also appears at a meeting with Abu Shaibah.
When asked about his meeting with Abu Shaibah, Cancar told Detektor that it was a “collective reception”.
“They were interested in possible changes and further forms of cooperation, and I informed them. Injazat Future was also there at the time. And I, nor anyone else, have the authority to make a selection of whom we will receive and whom we will not receive. It was a public meeting, and everyone who was interested attended, including this gentleman, among others,” he said.
In October 2025, Abu Shaibah met with the Prime Minister of the Zenica-Doboj Canton, Nezir Pivic, and Ahamn Alshlimiy, a civil servant in the Government of Kuwait. Abu Shaibah was introduced as a Kuwaiti investor who, on that occasion, emphasised that he was satisfied with the investment environment but that there were“obstacles of administrative nature that slow down new investments and business expansion”, according to Pivic.
“Before the meeting and also after the meeting with Mr. Abu Shaibah, I was not aware that any proceedings had been conducted against the Poduhvati Buducnosti – Injazat Future company. I met Mr. Abu Shaibah for the first time at a meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office held on October 14, 2025, and after that meeting we had no contact,” Pivic said.
Abu Shaibah has posted photos on Injazat Future’s social media, showing him with Adil Osmanovic, a long-time SDA (Party of Democratic Action) official, who is currently a member of the House of Peoples of Republika Srpska and a secretary in the Naprijed party. In the same post, there are also photos with the mayor of Breza, Vedad Jusic, the mayor of Visoko, Mirza Ganic, Akif Fazlic the former mayor of llijas, and Edin Smajic, the former mayor of Vogosca.
Osmanovic confirmed to Detektor that he attended a meeting with businessmen at the Malak Hotel, where he said “a Kuwaiti sheikh” who owned Injazat Future, and several municipal mayors were present.
“At that time, I was a member of the House of Representatives, and when inviting me, they told me that, in addition to businessmen, representatives of the Kuwaiti parliament would also be there.”
Osmanovic said that investment opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina were discussed in the meeting.
“Businessmen and the sheikh were particularly interested in the
possibility of exporting chicken meat to Kuwait as well as the
possibility of investing in agriculture in Bosnia and Herzegovina,”
Osmanovic told Detektor.
He stated that he has had no other contact with Abu Shaibah.
In 2017, Abu Shaibah met with the former Bosnian ambassador to Kuwait, Mehmed Halilovic. Since then, according to the website Istraga.ba, the money that Kuwait donates to Bosnia and Herzegovina has been paid in cash instead of being transferred through bank accounts. From 2017 until 2023, at least 1.2 million euros disappeared from the Bosnian embassy in Kuwait, according to the website. The former ambassador said that he does not remember signing any documents relating to the missing money.
Halilovic told Detektor that following a request from Kuwait, he advocated for a law that would allow Kuwaitis to buy land and real estate in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said he did not remember the details of the meeting with Abu Shaibah.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina told Detektor it has “an ongoing case related to allegations of misuse of donations from Kuwait”. It said the case is in the verification phase, no prosecutorial decision has been made.
Court proceedings and legal barriers have still not stopped Abu Shaibah from promoting the natural beauty of Bosnia and Herzegovina to attract buyers from Gulf countries.
One of the company’s latest Instagram posts features a video of a snow-covered forest road, accompanied with the words “snow season in Bosnia, the land of beauty,” written in Arabic.
Detektor received no response to emails sent to the Injazat Future company address. Attempts to contact them via WhatsApp messages and other networks were also unsuccessful.
This investigation was produced in collaboration with the Arab
Reporters for Investigative Journalism, ARIJ, with the support of
the Journalism Fund.
‘Don’t trust them’
Injazat Future’s headquarters is located in the Mousa Trade Center in Kuwait City. According to its website, the company also operates in Egypt, Georgia, Germany, and Turkey. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Injazat has a company with the same name and several companies with the same owner and address.
Injazat Future’s website says that it owns land in 107 locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and claims much of it has already been sold. Yet, in 2024, two out of three of Abu Shaibah’s companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina operated at a loss.
Despite efforts by Abu Shaibah’s companies to maintain a good reputation through meetings and diplomatic connections with officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, comments on social media portray a less flattering image.
On Injazat Future’s own Instagram and TikTok profiles, comments include: “Don’t trust them, I bought it four years ago and nobody responded to me.”
“They took the money a few months ago, and they still haven’t contacted me,” another warned.
“From personal experience, and God is my witness, I bought two plots and now deeply regret it”; “The land is cheap, but construction is the real problem,” others said.
For several years Injazat Future has been on a charm offensive in Bosnia and Herzegovina.In 2023, Abu Shaibah donated a facade for the building of the Majlis of the Islamic Community in Gracanica near Visoko,, and sponsored the Mladost football club from Zupca in Breza. Injazat Future also sponsored the Hadzici Summer event just outside Sarajevo in 2025, for which the town officially thanked them on its Facebook profile.
Research has found a plethora of organisations investing in real estate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that were founded with capital from Middle Eastern countriesAladin Abdagic, editor-in-chief of the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN) said there were 1,600 such companies by 2019. CIN’s research showed that some of these companies were illegally building large residential complexes.
“The owners of these complexes would get away with a verbal warning from local authorities, and the works would often be stopped only after they had built most of the planned villas.” Abdagic also found that court cases against illegal builders were rare and ended with sentences involving minimal fines.