In 2019, in a communication between several people involved in private interests, the name of Damian Gjiknuri is mentioned as an obstacle to a specific situation that was related to certain benefits. The messages speak of difficulties in achieving a goal and the need for this obstacle to be overcome. Years later, another episode comes to light: the kidnapping of businessman Gerond Meçe, who through institutional complaints had created blockages in public procedures. The file that is revealed below summarizes statements, communications and evidence administered by the investigative bodies, following these events and the connections between them in a timeline.
Excerpt from the investigative file:
From the statements of citizen Gerond Meçe, the investigative bodies have been made aware of the fact that citizen Erjon Ismaili, acting deputy director of the Tirana Local Police Directorate, has asked him to “stay away from AKSHI”. This fact is also consistent with the results of the examination of the film footage seized in the office of citizen Ergys Agasi, from which it results that there are social ties and common interests between these citizens. From the examination of the film footage it is evident that numerous meetings have been recorded between citizen Ergys Agasi and citizen Erjon Ismaili, reinforcing the suspicions about a stable communication and cooperation relationship.
To illustrate the modus operandi of this activity, the investigation also shows that citizen Ergys Agasi, in a communication dated 06.03.2019 with citizen Alqi Bllako, discussed a “situation” in which it is suspected that citizen Damian Gjiknuri had become an obstacle to illegal benefits. The content of this conversation shows that the person mentioned with the pseudonym “labi” is citizen Elgerti Bixha, whom citizen Ergys Agasi intended to appoint as administrator in a private company that had won a concession from the ministry headed at the time by former minister Damian Gjiknuri. The latter is alleged to have become an obstacle to the realization of these illegal benefits by citizens Ergys Agasi, Elgerti Bixha and Alqi Bllako.
In this communication, specifically in the message dated 06.03.2019, at 21:54:43, citizen Ergys Agasi states: "We'll take care of the slaves, then we'll bring in the kids," which implies using connections with high-risk social individuals to "remove" the created obstacles.
This circumstance is directly related to the hostage-taking of citizen Gerond Meçe, since he, like in the case of citizen Damian Gjiknuri, had created an “obstacle” for the interests of this group through numerous complaints to the Public Procurement Commission, regarding the procurement procedures conducted at the AKSHI. This reinforces the suspicion that the modus operandi of this criminal group is the same: identifying an obstacle, pressure through informal channels and, in case of refusal, the use of serious forms of intimidation.
Following this reasoning, the reasonable suspicion against citizen Ergys Agasi, as the organizer and participant in the hostage-taking of citizen Gerond Meçe, is also reinforced by the fact that the vehicle used to carry out the hostage-taking turns out to be owned by the entity "Merkaj 3" sh.pk, with NIPT L31722005D, owned by citizen Endri Merkaj.
From open sources, it has been verified that citizen Endri Merkaj, together with his brother Klajdi Merkaj, have ties of interest with citizens Arjan Ormenaj and Arben Lamçe, part of the criminal group known as "Çopja".
Also, during the search of the apartment of citizen Ergys Agasi, documents of interest for the investigation were found, specifically "Real estate sale contract with reservation of ownership transfer", with no. 1370/798 rep/kol, dated 07.03.2024, held and legalized at the Fatmir Koseni notary office, between citizen Drita Hoxha in the capacity of the selling party, citizens Mira Hoxha, Irfan Hoxha and Nikolin Jaka in the capacity of the consenting party and the company "Elba Beton", with NIPT K12608201B, represented by citizen Arjan Ormenaj.
This data, taken as a whole, constitutes the complete disclosure of the file that links pressure, threats, hostage-taking and criminal interventions with the interests of public tenders and with a repeated pattern of action.
