FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Her departure was announced by the Prime Ministry, which also announced the vacancy for the director general of the agency that coordinates the distribution of EU funds.
After the arrest of the former Minister of Health, Ilir Beqaj, by SPAK, in connection with the suspicions of a corruption scheme with the funds of the Foreign Aid Coordination Agency (SASPAC), the director of this agency, Joana Suli, was dismissed.
Her departure was announced by the Prime Ministry, which also announced the vacancy for the director general of the agency that coordinates the distribution of EU funds.
The reasons for Suli's dismissal are not yet clear, but there have been signs of dissatisfaction with her over the past 7 months from the prime minister, ministers and heads of the parliamentary commissions to which she reported. Joana Suli was appointed head of SASPAC on December 15 of last year. Before this position, she served as an assistant in Mirela Kumbaro's antechamber at the Ministry of Culture and then as a coordinator at the Co-Government.
Moreover, on July 30, 2023, the 30-year-old from Durrës was appointed director of the Agency for Drafting Special Citizenship Programs in the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, she also had a previous career as a coordinator in other state institutions. Her dismissal occurred in the context of investigations related to corruption and the management of funds by the Agency she headed.
The arrest of Beqaj and the abuse of SASPAC funds
Regarding the last affair with the abuse of SASPAC funds, Ilir Beqaj was put in handcuffs on July 4, and Ermal Kurtulaj, his right-hand man, and Alfred Nikolla were also put in handcuffs. Beqaj was arrested in connection with the embezzlement of EU funds, through the SASPAC agency, which was headed by the former Minister of Health, even though before that, SPAK had launched investigations related to concessions in health. Through a statement, SPAK clarified that the investigations showed that when he was running the SASPAC Agency, he set up a benefit scheme with fictitious invoices and procurement procedures, extorting EU funds (IPA II Program). According to the Special Prosecutor's Office, the funds for the activities of the SASPAC agency went to the predetermined winners according to the orders and directives given by Beqaj. In accordance with this scheme, says SPAK, Beqaj collaborated with Ermal Kurtulaj, his financier and close associate. The restaurant "Gzona" inside the Castle of Tirana, according to SPAK, although it has another person as administrator, is the hidden property of Beqaj. SPAK states that Beqaj has invested in the "Gzona" restaurant since 2019 the sums of 21,411 euros and 4,666,110 new lek for the purchase of equipment and 34,783 euros as rental expenses.
Lini një Përgjigje