Judge Flojera Davidhi of the Special Court decided on Friday to return the criminal case against 16 individuals and 4 companies, accused of fraud with serious consequences through microcredit schemes and the collection of financial obligations, to SPAK for further investigations.
Davidhi set a 5-month deadline for prosecutor Edvin Kondili to complete the investigations into this matter, where preliminary investigations found that the persons under investigation extorted at least 36.8 million euros and 1,700 real estate properties from thousands of citizens, through a bad loan refinancing scheme and blackmail.
According to SPAK, the group operated as a single structure, using the same computer system, sharing financial resources and circulating staff between entities, in function of a criminal scheme aimed at illegal enrichment at the expense of citizens in economic difficulties.
The defendants are accused of fraud with serious consequences, forgery of documents and participation in a structured criminal group. The list of defendants also includes four legal entities: “Micro Credit Albania” sh.pk, “ADCA” sh.pk, “Final” sh.pk and “TDR Group Private Bailiff’s Office”.
Investigations show that for more than nine years, these companies have illegally multiplied citizens' debts through daily interests of up to 2%, exerting pressure and telephone threats against debtors and their families. In some cases, the debts have been transferred to family members without any connection to the original loan, while citizens' assets have been seized and transferred to the companies' ownership through fictitious auctions.
The consequences of the scheme are not only financial, but also social, as thousands of citizens have had their bank accounts blocked for years, while dozens of properties have been illegally seized.
