In Albania, no one escapes the hands of the oligarchs, not the ordinary citizen, not the businessman, not even the world star who raises the red and black flag on every international stage.
The latest case is so absurd that it seems like black humor, Dua Lipa, the globally famous singer, faces the same story of fraud and robbery that thousands of Albanians on the coast have experienced.
Confidential sources indicate that the singer had expressed interest in purchasing a luxury villa in Kep Merli, Ksamil, one of the most coveted tourist areas of Saranda.
A government-connected oligarch offered her a "property with regular documents", where the investment would be safe. Dua Lipa paid the corresponding amount, but instead of a legal villa, they offered her a 3-D project and then built a building built without permission.
Ironically, the villa is currently undergoing legalization, a process that in Albania takes years and is often used as an alibi for money laundering and the division of stolen property.
This scandal is more than a property issue. It symbolizes the arrogance of a system where oligarchs feel above the law. They plunder the coast, take millions from tenders, sell illegal properties and now, without any shame, they are also deceiving a world-famous singer.
Instead of Albania being proud that a star like Dua Lipa is investing in its homeland, Edi Rama's oligarchs see her as "the next client" to be stripped of money. This is our bitter reality: tourism and the country's image are used not for development, but for theft.
In any normal country, such a case would shake the government. The media would explode, justice would act immediately, and the fraudulent oligarch would be under criminal investigation. But in Albania? Silence. The state pretends nothing happened, SPAK has not yet woken up, and the oligarch laughs it off, continuing construction without permission.
If a name like Dua Lipa, with international lawyers and a global reputation, falls victim to the plunder of Albanian oligarchs, what hope can ordinary citizens have? The message is clear: this system spares no one, neither the most powerful nor the poorest.
What happened to Dua Lipa is not an isolated story, but a picture of a country where corruption has become a culture and where the law is a document that is only valid for deceiving.
And while Albania boasts of its world star, Rama's oligarchs have given her the usual gift of the Albanian transition, a looted villa, with legalization pending and a shame that falls on the entire country.
By Arben Llangozi
