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Klodjan Braho is the last to be introduced: I investigated the transfer of 18.4 billion lek that SPAK discovered to

2025-12-11 14:23:40 / AKTUALITET ALFA PRESS
Klodjan Braho is the last to be introduced: I investigated the transfer of 18.4

Prosecutor Klodjan Braho is being introduced as the last on the list of candidates who have expressed interest in taking over the Special Prosecution Office, following the end of Altin Dumani's mandate. Previously, Adnan Xholi, Doloreza Musabelliu and Elvin Gogaj were introduced.

Currently, Klodjan Braho is giving a presentation on his career and the need for improvements at SPAK.

He told members of the High Prosecutorial Council, who will vote for him or the other three candidates later this Thursday, that he led the operation to locate and confiscate a transfer of 18.4 million euros to "Alpha Bank" in Tirana.

Klodjan Braho indicated that this money was originated by a criminal organization in Italy and in 2023, when it was confiscated, it constituted a budget twice as large as the annual budget of SPAK.

The transfer of Cosa Nosta to "Alpha Bank" in Tirana and the role of Rezart Taçi

SPAK and its Italian counterparts finalized an operation two years ago that led to the arrest of several people and the seizure of over 18 million euros, which were blocked in a second-tier bank in Tirana. They had originated in Italy and were to be laundered in Albania.

In our country, the brother-in-law and driver of businessman Rezart Taçi were arrested, while in Italy several were handcuffed. Artur Balla and Bledar Lilo, brother-in-law and driver of Rezart Taçi, were found guilty of "Money Laundering" by the Special Court and were both sentenced to 21 years in prison in total. The businessman himself has been declared an international wanted person.

18.4 million euros of the Italian mafia "Cosa Nostra" were blocked in November 2021 and according to SPAK, Rezart Taçi would launder them through movement in several banks in several countries and would receive a percentage. Specifically 16%.

According to SPAK's investigations, Artur Balla and Bledar Lilo played an active role in helping Italians Francesco Zummo and economist Fabio Petruzzella, both arrested in Italy, open bank accounts and make money transfers for their laundering.

This case is also reflected in the annual work report of the Special Prosecution Office, in 2024, which shows the path followed by the transfer of money, which turned out to belong to the notorious Italian mafia gang "Cosa Nostra".

Money laundering by international criminal organizations

"It should be noted that one of the complex money laundering schemes is the use of Albanian banking institutions as a transit point and the use of Albanian commercial entities as "intermediaries" for money laundering by international criminal organizations, such as the Italian mafia. Representatives of legitimate Albanian businesses in the role of professional "intermediaries" have helped create access to the Albanian banking system, which would be used to carry out the "layering" of bank transfers to then transfer them to other countries.

The most typical case is that of an individual who laundered money on behalf of Cosa Nostra in Italy. The money laundering scheme consisted of transferring money from a foundation he had established based in Liechtenstein, but with a bank account opened in Switzerland. The money was initially transferred from the foundation’s account to his personal account, also in the same bank in Switzerland. From there, with the connections established with a trading company in Albania, which played the role of professional “intermediary”, the money would initially come to his personal account opened in a second-tier bank in Albania.

This money would then be transferred to the Albanian trading company, which dealt with the fuel trade in the form of a loan, and this company would transfer it to Hong Kong to another trading company, which would serve as a "guarantor" for carrying out fictitious transactions for the purchase of fuel. For this service, the Albanian trading company would benefit from 16% (approximately 3 million Euros) of the value of the money that would be laundered," the report says.

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