FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
During 2023, 156 criminal proceedings for Money Laundering were registered. However, 80 proceedings, or half of them, were dismissed.
In the period 2019-2023, a total of 467 criminal proceedings for the crime of money laundering were dismissed from 1,295 files.
Here we are talking about investigations launched by ordinary jurisdiction prosecutors, where attention is lower after the furor generated by SPAK operations.
The question that is often raised is: how is it possible that a proceeding initiated by the Prosecution itself is ultimately dismissed at the request of the prosecution body...
"This is the process of proving, it doesn't matter, it must be proven that the parent act is in the genesis of the crime, how the laundering is carried out, I'm talking about trafficking through third-party collaborators, hiding the wealth from others is another problem, but the prosecution should not be abusive in determining the parent act," said Eugen Beci, former prosecutor.
"So far, we have not had any cases, at least proven, where people who investigated cases were suspected by other bodies, who intentionally delayed the investigation to cover up the truth," said former prosecutor Shkëlqim Hajdari.
We have approached several district prosecutors' offices with a request for information. From the macro analysis, to individual prosecutors' offices, the trend is similar to the overall figure.
If we refer to the Fier Prosecutor's Office, one of the areas where the most powerful organized crime groups operate, even there half of the money laundering proceedings are dropped along the way.
In the period 2019-2023, 121 proceedings were registered, of which 58 were dismissed. Only 7 cases went to trial.
If we analyze all the links in the system as a whole, it becomes even clearer how massive the suspected money laundering cases that are being closed along the way are.
During 2023, the Financial Intelligence Agency alone reported a total of 1,728 suspicious cases. Of these, 220 cases were referred to the prosecution and police. As we found out above, only 156 cases were prosecuted. Half of which were dismissed.
In the cases referred to, the vast majority of the subjects were convicted of various criminal activities or were under investigation. So, they did not justify their wealth and had a criminal record. This reinforces the suspicions.
"I think that the indicators are not where they should be, because half of them have been dismissed and half have gone well. In my opinion, this shows that it is necessary for Albanian authorities to cooperate with each other. These are not issues that are simply investigated by the prosecution," said former prosecutor Shkëlqim Hajdari.
In the public report of the Special Prosecution for 2023, a special chapter was dedicated to the analysis of Money Laundering by the International Mafia. Precisely, the phenomenon that often passes in silence with the massive closure of files. The listed forms of money laundering are very diverse.
From transfers through fictitious companies, to real estate purchases, etc. The 2023 Census data revealed that a full 350 thousand homes in Albania were empty.
A situation that does not explain the increase in demand in the market and prices. The question of who buys apartments is answered by dozens of actions, not only against Albanians, but also against foreigners against money laundering.
"We have had an increase in foreign investors who are oriented towards the most problematic industries, construction, real estate mainly, and you understand that real estate has become like honey for wasps, a money laundering machine in Albania," said Pano Soko, a former prosecutor.
"Here we must be careful because there are also purchases due to the appropriate market for the sale of properties that are in Tirana or on the coast, and here there are reasons why we should not have great concern because they are citizens from the EU. But here inside there may also be purchases from criminal networks", said former prosecutor, Shkëlqim Hajdari. /Inside Story
Lini një Përgjigje