The mechanism of how hundreds of citizens in Divjaka, Lushnje and Fier were defrauded through online pyramid schemes has been revealed. The investigations that led to the arrest of 6 people, while two others were declared wanted, began after a referral that the Directorate for the Investigation of Cyber Crimes made to the General Directorate of the State Police.
Investigators dismantled the fraudulent scheme through infiltrated agents, while below are revealed the testimonies of people who are victims of fraud through the Xuex platform, including local officials in these cities.
Details of the investigative file
From the verifications carried out on the ground, it was found that at the entrance to the city of Lushnja on the "Shëtitorja e Palmave" street, there is a bar-restaurant "La Bonta" owned by Arbër Çela. At the entrance to this entity, two posters were attached to the glass window, advertising the "Xuex" platform. One advertisement posted "EG Group Investment XUEX" One-time investment = Lifetime benefits". The other advertisement read "EG Group Investment XUEX; "Long-term investment project, teamwork, trading signals, many rewards". According to the data, investments are made in the "Xuex" platform in the described environment, which is suspected of being a fraudulent pyramid scheme. The police have decided to infiltrate their agents in order to dismantle the scheme and identify the responsible persons.
Police agents went to this bar-restaurant and contacted the waiter, whom they asked about the poster that was displayed on the main door of the bar, how it works, and how they could become part of this platform.
The waiter, Emanuel Taullau, told him that he was part of the platform and could make them part of it or he could help another person, who said he was the owner of the bar and emphasized that they called him by the nickname "Professor".
The infiltrated agents asked the waiter about the amount that had to be deposited to open the platform and he told them: "The minimum amount that you have to deposit to be part of the platform is a minimum amount of about 1000 dollars." He told them that we could also find them in some groups on the Telegram social network. During the conversation, the waiter told them that in the Divjaka area, where he emphasized that the center of the platform was, there was a large participation of individuals. The police officers asked the waiter for information on where they could access the "XUEX" platform and he replied: "You can contact me at any time."
The next day, police agents went back to the "La Bonta" bar restaurant, where they contacted the waiter, who introduced them to his colleague, another waiter, Flavio Mukaj. The latter would be part of a group on the "Telegram" social network.
At the moment that citizens Emanuel Taullau and Flavio Mukaj registered the agent on Binance and made him part of the groups on the Telegram application, a payment of 1000 (one thousand) dollars had to be made on the Xuex platform. The files state that Emanuel Taullau was the person who transferred the money from his account to the Xuex platform, where he took 100 dollars from Flavio Mukaj's account and deposited it into his account. Then, from his account, he transferred a total of 1000 (one thousand) dollars to the agent's account on the Xuex platform. The police agent gave the waiter who was on duty on 28.08.2025, at that time at the La Bonta bar restaurant, to citizen Emanuel Taullau, the amount of 100,000 (one hundred thousand) lek.
mastermind
The police accuse Ereledio Shebeku of being the organizer of online pyramid schemes, after investigations revealed that he has installed a cryptocurrency trading platform called “XUEX” on the Telegram app. On this online site, this citizen has opened a group of five people, each of whom invests monetary values in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Through this app, Ereledio Shebeku receives messages from a person identified as “Leo Smith,” who is suspected of being a British citizen, inviting all participants to log into this platform at 2:20 p.m. and 7:20 p.m. every day, asking them to “like” the pages that this citizen sends to the Telegram app.
From this investment, all people who play on this platform and like it benefit from the amount of 1% of their investment. So every day they increase their investment by 1% of the invested value. The investment they have on the phone on the “XUEX” platform, the amount they want to withdraw and transfer to an account in “Binance Bank” and from this account they transfer this amount to their accounts in second-tier banks in Albania and then withdraw money regularly, where the bank charges you a commission for these withdrawals and gives you a copy of the withdrawal mandate. All participants who have registered on this platform, deposit the money into their bank accounts with the claim that they want to invest in the sale and purchase of cryptocurrencies and online purchases.
According to information from the Divjaka Municipality, about 580 people have registered on this platform, who have invested amounts ranging from 1,000 (one thousand) dollars to 5,000 (five thousand) dollars, and the income earned on this platform is withdrawn every 45 days.
According to information, citizen Ereledio Shebeku has introduced his family members and many other people to this platform.
This platform includes citizen Brunilda Stefan Ndini, born on 29.09.1986, resident of Divjaka, who has included her family members and many other people who are employees of the Divjaka Municipality, but also residents of the city of Divjaka, as well as from the villages of the Tërbuf Administrative Unit.
These individuals are suspected of being in the role of main managers, as they recruit and secure various individuals based on information obtained through operational channels, adding secondary and tertiary groups of people, with the aim of increasing their profits, thus enabling the operation of the suspected fraudulent pyramid scheme.
In relation to the situation described above, according to the data, investments are made on the "Xuex" platform, which is suspected to be a genuine fraudulent scheme.
Testimony of the owner of the premises
Arber Çela, the owner of the bar, who is now in custody, stated that "I have only invested in the Xuex platform, not in Txex and my nephew V.Cani, who lives abroad, suggested it to me. Joana and Professor Smith teach you everything. I want to say that I have learned all the procedures from the group where Joana and Leo Smith sent them, with videos. I have made an investment of 2300 dollars at the beginning and that this is the amount that I have invested only 2300 dollars. I have invested around April 10 or 11 of this year, that is, 2025 and I have withdrawn, about 8-9 thousand USD. I have withdrawn this money in Prizren, Kosovo. I have only been there once and it was yesterday. I have not invited anyone, but my family members have asked to enter themselves. I want to say that I have earned a total of somewhere around 6 thousand dollars, from this investment of 2 thousand dollars that I have invested. I have managed it myself "the platform and no one else has managed it."
The waiter's testimony
Emanuel Taullau stated that: “I have been employed as a waiter for 4 years at the restaurant called “La Bonta” in the city of Lushnja. The work operates in 2 shifts, morning and afternoon. The morning shift starts at 07:00-15:00 and the afternoon shift 15:00-23:00. The owner is called Arbër Cela and my relationship with him is simply that I work in the business he has. I want to say that I do not know the exact number of employees and that I am paid 450 thousand old lek which I receive on the 10th of each month. I have only heard about the XUEX platform and I have invested the amount of 1 million old lek in June 2025. I have known the XUEX platform from society because for a period of time there was a lot of talk and everyone about this platform. To become part of this platform I have received a link that has sent by my friend and colleague Altin Quka. I made the investment through the bank account that I have in Tirana Bank. From the bank account I transferred it to Binanc and from there to the XUEX platform. It's not like anyone specifically helped me because I understand it a little myself. At first, I invested the amount of 600 thousand old lek. The total amount that I invested is 1 million old lek and specifically on the XUEX platform. I transferred the total amount invested to my Binanc portfolio. I withdrew the total amount of 1 million and 200 thousand old lek. I did not physically withdraw this amount but I made the deposit in Binanc and I did not invite any other person. I did not have any benefit because I did not invite anyone. I am the only person who managed it and I was part of the groups.
Marius Kodra's testimony
"I want to say that I myself have been a victim of this activity after I lost the amount of 400 euros. As for whether or not I have influenced any other person to become part of this platform, I have only talked to my sister because I had asked many people in the city of Tirana who had benefited from large sums from this platform but I have not influenced anyone to become part of these platforms. I received the first contact on the Telegram communication network with a citizen named Ereledio Shebeku. In total, I have invested the amount of 400 euros and I have not influenced any person except when we have sometimes discussed with the society. I have no information but I have heard about two girls named Bruna who have benefited and were active in the group but Ereledio was more talked about. I want to explain that those messages that I sent to the person Leo Smith were because I had heard that if you threatened or pressured him, he would return the invested amount back. "I feel very bad being here, because I am one of the people who has been lied to and deceived by this platform."
The testimony of Brunilda T.
"I have been working in the Municipality of Divjaka for about seven years, as an employee in the tourism sector. I have not invested in the TXEX platform, but in the XUEX platform I have invested in the amount of 1,000 USD, this was the initial value. I learned about the XUEX platform from the social network Facebook, which came to my attention in advertisements and there I clicked on the link and registered on this platform. After I registered, the administrator of this platform, whose name is Joanna, invited me to the signal group and invited me to contact Leo Smith. Before giving the signal, Leo Smith was giving a financial education lecture, as this was a new cryptocurrency world for us investors. I made the investment through the bank account that I have at Raiffeisen Bank. From the bank account I transferred it to the Binance digital wallet and from there I transferred it to my account in my name, on the XUEX platform. No one helped me, I registered myself. The total amount I invested was 1,000 USD on the XUEX platform and it was in the Autumn 2024 period but I don't remember the month. I have withdrawn 1,000 Euros twice but I don't remember the period and I made the withdrawal at Otp Bank, in Divjaka. I mean that I have withdrawn monetary values in euros several times, at licensed currency exchange points in Kosovo but I don't remember how much value I withdrew. I withdrew from the platform to my digital wallet Binance and from there I transferred it to my bank account at OTP Bank. No, I did not invite anyone else but I wanted my husband to earn money like I was earning and he invested with me, in the amount of 1,000 USD. I invited my sister-in-law, whose name is Sofia T. but I don't know the amount or how much my two friends invested.
The testimony of Elisabeta Xh.
'I am a user of the XUEX platform, while TXEX does not know it. I work at the Gramsh Municipality in the role of Director of Social Services and for the first time I learned about it in March from colleagues during a meeting. At a certain hour during lunch I noticed two colleagues had a signal on their phones and were spending time there. I became curious and asked them what they were doing. E., explained to me that she had become part of a platform, which she did not understand very well and that twice a day at certain times she had to click on a green dot and that this generated money online. After the conversation I researched on the internet and asked friends and acquaintances if they knew about the platform. There I found out that there were other people from Gramsh who had participated in it and that the way to invest in these platforms was with crypto. Together with a friend of mine, we decided to try it to register on the platform and after downloading XUEX, we followed the steps until the end of the registration. I invested 1000 euros as initial capital, of which 3000 euros were transferred to the Binance account and I have another amount on the platform that has not yet been withdrawn of about 5000 euros. To withdraw the money, I did a test by transferring it to the bank at Raiffeisen Bank where I transferred 100USD and 7600 new lek were transferred to my account. After proving that it worked, I did not make any other withdrawals, but left it in the Binance account where I currently have 3014 USDT. Regarding the invitation of other people, I do not know if it is called an invitation, but after it went viral in the city of Gramsh and during a family lunch, my husband, sister, uncle's son and brother-in-law asked me how it works and I explained it to you. I transferred money from my divorced sister's account to Binance to help her since she has two children and I wanted to help her, while I sent the registration link to the others. The reason she explained it to her sister was because both the investment and the withdrawal were made in an official and declared manner, so she thought it was something legal.
