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The "Bankers Petroleum" scandal has been going on for 20 years...
Police carried out a sensational raid yesterday at the offices of Bankers Petroleum, arresting its head and several officials. The Fier Prosecutor's Office accuses the company of tax evasion and money laundering, as according to it, it has been declaring losses for 20 years and this is done to avoid tax obligations.
The question that naturally arises is: when Bankers has been making scandals for 20 years, why did justice come to mind now? "Pamphlet", but also many other media outlets, have denounced the Bankers affair dozens of times, but only the state did not see it. The Supreme State Audit Office itself has conducted several audits and has discovered countless violations. Even in 2017, the Supreme Audit Office raised the alarm that Bankers had been making losses for 12 years at that time and this was scandalous.
" The SAI is concerned about the lack of profit for the Albanian state from the hydrocarbon agreement in the production phase for the Patos-Marinza oil field. This is because, from the regularity audits at AKBN and Albpetrol Sh.A. over the last 4-5 years, it has resulted that the R factor is less than 1 (the ratio of expenses incurred to income generated from the sale of crude oil), also showing the poor performance of their activity in this regard ," the SAI stated in 2017.
In another report, the Supreme State Audit Office finds Bankers' maneuvers to inflate and increase expenses, in order to avoid paying taxes. During the audit of Albpetrol for the years 2021-2022, the Supreme State Audit Office found that Bankers, in 2020, calculated 2.9 million USD as hydrocarbon costs, contrary to the hydrocarbon agreement.
Bankers Petroleum has manipulated expenses every year, fabricating and inflating them. After 20 years, the expenses are around 4 billion euros, so with “losses”. The government even suspended a fine of 104 million euros against Bankers. Also, the Natural Resources Agency has conducted many audits and discovered many violations. AKBN is a state body. So, the facts were there and no one moved.
Meanwhile, the action comes after several months of investigations, which seem to have started after a message that the Americans sent to Edi Rama at the end of last year. In a meeting held by the American Chamber of Commerce, the US envoy, Nancy VanHorn, asked to avoid companies that could be a threat to Albania's interests.
"The embassy supports investment screening legislation. Let's avoid investments that are not in line with Albanian interests or that pose risks. Along the way, join EU countries that have established links for investment verification," she said at the time.
The message was seen as a signal to distance himself from the Chinese. Is Rama now trying to win over the Americans? /Pamphlet
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