Journalist Klodiana Lala, invited to MCN TV, has provided details of the investigations that SPAK is conducting into the Bankers Petroleum affair, after the Fier Prosecutor's Office declared incompetence.
Klodiana Lala: The Fier Prosecutor's Office, after signing the arrest warrant and announcing the search for other shareholders, declared incompetence and sent it to SPAK, after being faced with two moments. The Fier Prosecutor's Office claims to have found elements that implicate senior state officials up to the level of ministers and the second moment, all the persons involved in this affair, are suspected of having acted within a structured criminal group and the Special Prosecutor's Office has accepted this criminal case and has registered the criminal offenses, creation of fraudulent schemes related to value added tax, concealment of income, laundering of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity, abuse of office, failure to perform duties by tax authorities, passive corruption of senior state officials or local elected officials, structured criminal group and commission of criminal offenses by a criminal organization and a structured criminal group.
In summary, two names emerge from the high-ranking officials, former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, who is suspected of having favored the Bankers company. Mr. Ahmetaj is on the run and may have his own reaction to this issue, but it is alleged that he has had constant contact with the administrators of Bankers and it is about granting some lands for use.
The administrators and directors of Bankers asked him to be employed in the ministry he headed at the time of the criminal offense. Ahmetaj was a minister.
Ola Xama: According to the Fier Prosecutor's Office, when Mr. Leonidha Çobo's phone was analyzed, a request was found to initiate a VKM, which would give the barren lands for use. This land was then acquired by a company linked to Leonidha Çobo, which then leased it to Bankers. It was acquired at a low price and Bankers was paid 700 thousand euros per year.
Klodiana Lala: The other senior official is former minister Anila Denaj, it is about inaction on her part since there is a fine of 120 million euros, which was initially imposed as a fine and the obligations go to total, but Ms. Denaj's role in relation to the Bankers affair is being investigated. There are no names registered yet, Ahmetaj and Denaj are not registered as persons under investigation, but their role is being investigated. The Fier Prosecutor's Office has raised suspicions about these two, because some of the criminal offenses related to abuse of office can also be found for other officials and other former ministers, but due to the long time that has passed since 2004, some of the criminal offenses are prescribed by law.
The second part, a second-tier bank in Austria is being investigated. What were the managers and administrators of Bankers doing, besides inflating invoices in millions of euros, so for unfinished work, unfinished services, they did not pay, they came out with a loss, they did not pay taxes and duties in the Albanian state, causing terrible damage, up to 5 billion, if I'm not mistaken, it has been calculated so far.
Meanwhile, all the accounts of Bankers, or other companies, were emptied. But prosecutors have found that a second-tier bank in Austria made preferential payments to certain persons. SPAK has requested through a letter of request from this second-tier bank, all payments that were made to see, are public officials, high-ranking officials, are companies, etc. Through the letter of request, it will be understood later, also with clarity, the names or persons who received payments.
Klodiana Lala: They were not made by second-tier banks in Albania. The headquarters of the bank from which the preferential payments were made are in Vienna.
The other big scandal, in just one transaction, 110 million euros was made offshore, in Hong Kong, Ireland and other countries, where the money went from Albania and no one from the institutions, taxes, customs, financial investigation institutions, financial intelligence, raised the alarm, to say, how is it possible that Bankers' money is going offshore? Just one transfer has passed 110 million euros. Imagine how many million euros have passed. It is impossible to return them, because with offshore companies the final beneficiary is not known.
The prosecution says that the way they operated was like a chain of links, being a continuous criminal activity, prolonged in time, between the same people and between the same companies involved, we have doubts, says the special prosecution, that we are facing a structured criminal group.
