Hundreds of citizens in Divjaka, Lushnja and Fier were defrauded through the online platform "Xuex", built on a typical pyramid scheme. The investigations that led to the arrest of 6 people and the announcement of the search for two others began after a referral from the Directorate for the Investigation of Cybercrimes at the General Directorate of the State Police.
The scheme was uncovered thanks to undercover agents, who documented how citizens were recruited and how investments were made. The investigative file, obtained by VNA, includes not only the method of operation of the fraud, but also the testimonies of the affected persons, including local officials.
How did the scheme work?
Field checks led the police to the bar-restaurant “La Bonta”, at the entrance to Lushnja, on “Shëtitorja e Palmave” street, owned by Arbër Çela. In the glass window were two posters advertising the “Xuex” platform: one promised “One-time investment = Lifetime benefits”, the other spoke of “long-term project, teamwork and numerous rewards”.
In this environment, the police found that investments were being made in “Xuex”, a platform suspected of being a pyramid scheme. For this reason, the undercover agents entered the bar and contacted the waiter Emanuel Taullau, who told them that he himself was part of the scheme. He referred them to the owner, who was known by the nickname “The Professor”, and explained that the minimum amount to enter the platform was 1000 dollars.
The next day, the agents returned to the bar and Taullau introduced them to his colleague, Flavio Mukaj, who registered them in Telegram groups and instructed them on opening accounts on Binance. The file also documents a specific transaction: the agents handed Taullau 100,000 lek (on 28.08.2025), which he converted into a payment of 1,000 dollars for their account on “Xuex”.
The suspected organizer
According to the police, the organizer of the scheme is Ereledio Shebeku. He had set up a group on Telegram, where members invested from 1000 to 5000 dollars. Shebeku received instructions from a person identified as “Leo Smith”, suspected to be a British citizen, who instructed participants to “like” certain pages at fixed times (14:20 and 19:20). This action generated for them a daily profit of 1% on the amount invested.
Investments were initially transferred to Binance and then to the participants' bank accounts in Albania, where regular withdrawals were made. In Divjaka alone, according to official data, about 580 people were registered, including local administration employees.
The list of people who further distributed the scheme also includes Brunilda Stefan Ndini, who, according to the file, had recruited family members and other employees of the Divjakë Municipality, becoming part of the network of local managers. Investigations confirm that the scheme was expanded through chain recruitment, adding secondary and tertiary groups to increase the organizers' profits.
