The Criminal Court of Albania has decided to put on trial the case of the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, and 29 other people.
Erion Veliaj was arrested on February 10, accused of having, together with his wife Ajola Xoxa, built a complex corruption and money laundering scheme to illegally benefit from the capital's municipality funds and bribes from its businessmen contractors, using a network of companies and non-profit organizations.
According to SPAK, the mayor of the capital and his wife have benefited from around 1 million euros from this corrupt scheme, money that was mainly used for luxury online purchases by Ajola Xoxa.
Erion Veliaj's successive requests to leave his cell have been rejected by courts of all levels.
