A light aircraft that ends up at the center of a security alert near a nuclear power plant in France and a luxury yacht worth 930 thousand euros seized as part of a money laundering investigation. Two different episodes, but today they are united by the same name: Ermal Beqiri, the Albanian businessman declared wanted by SPAK, whose name has returned to the spotlight after reporting by the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD). The newspaper writes that the Albanian pilot detained after flying illegally over the Penly nuclear power plant is suspected to be Beqiri, although so far there has been no official confirmation from the French authorities.
In Albania, Ermal Beqiri is considered by SPAK as one of the key figures in the AKSHI file, one of the largest investigations of recent years into corruption and manipulation of public tenders in the information technology sector. According to the prosecution, he is suspected of being part of a well-organized mechanism that favored certain companies in public procurement procedures, eliminating competition and orienting contracts worth millions of euros.
Beqiri faces some of the most serious charges raised in this file, including participation in a structured criminal group, money laundering, violation of equality in tenders, corruption in procurement procedures, illegal competition, as well as illegal deprivation of liberty, an accusation related to the kidnapping episode of businessman Gerond Meçe, which SPAK considers part of the criminal group's activity.
The investigations did not stop only at the tenders. The prosecution has documented a series of luxury assets that are suspected of being created with proceeds from criminal activity and hidden through third parties. Among them stands out the luxury yacht “Skyfall”, worth around 930 thousand euros, registered in the name of a 24-year-old Romanian citizen, but which according to SPAK was effectively controlled by Beqiri. Bank accounts, vehicles and other assets that the prosecution suspects are related to him have also been seized as part of the investigation.
From the luxury yacht in the Mediterranean to the light aircraft that became the subject of an investigation in France, Ermal Beqiri's expensive passions have accompanied the profile of a businessman who has been evading Albanian justice for months.
If French authorities confirm that the detained pilot is Ermal Beqiri and initiate proceedings for his extradition to Albania, the much-discussed AKSHI file could take a significant turn. Bringing to justice one of the individuals that SPAK considers key in the suspected tender manipulation scheme would give the investigation a new dimension, paving the way for confrontations, interrogations and the elucidation of the role of each of the individuals involved in one of the largest public procurement scandals of recent years.
