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Through his lawyer, Ilenja Mëhilli, the controversial former oil businessman Rezart Taçi requested that the criminal case against him for money laundering and organized criminal group be transferred to Italy, arguing that he is a resident there and has been convicted of the same criminal offenses – request that brought the postponement of the next session.
Rezart Taçi, the controversial former oil businessman accused by the Special Prosecutor's Office..., SPAK of money laundering and structured criminal group, requests that the case against him be transferred to Italy. This request was submitted on Monday, June 24, during the court session at the Special Court of First Instance, by his legal representative, lawyer Ilenja Mëhilli.
The chairperson of the trial body, Elsa Ulliri, clarified at the beginning of the session that Taçi was not found in his apartment, while the TIMS system shows that he has left Albania since 2015 - findings that were also reported in previous sessions. Prosecutor Klodian Braho said that all the possibilities of informing Taç have already been exhausted and in the conditions that he is represented by lawyers in the trial, he requested that the continuation of the process be declared in the absence of the defendant.
Lawyer Mëhilli noted that it has been proven with documentation that the defendant has a permanent residence permit in Italy since 1993 and that he should have been notified at the address abroad.
The panel of judges, composed of judges Elsa Ulliri, Etleva Deda and Marçela Shehu, considered the investigations complete and declared the continuation of the trial in the absence of Taçi, who, in addition to the lawyer chosen by his family, will also be defended by the lawyer Artan Simoni. mostly determined by the court.
However, a request by lawyer Mëhilli for the transfer of Rezart Taçi's case to Italy brought about the postponement of the session. The lawyer brought to attention that the case against three Italian citizens accused of being an accomplice of Tachi in money laundering, was decided by another court to be transferred to Italy.
Prosecutor Braho said that there can be no comparison, as the other three defendants are Italian citizens.
Next, lawyer Mëhilli argued that the transfer was made when the defendant had been prosecuted for the same event in the other state and was a resident there, regardless of the citizenship he enjoyed. She emphasized that Taçi had been sentenced in Italy by the first instance, which had convicted him of the same criminal offences.
She presented Italian court documents, claiming to prove Taç's conviction there, but the court found that they did not have an apostille stamp. Mihilli asked for time so that he could provide the documents with an apostille stamp and submit them to the court, a request that was accepted by the court that scheduled the next hearing on July 4, at 2:00 p.m.
Rezart Taçi was declared internationally wanted by SPAK in November 2021, after being accused of being involved in a financial operation for hiding over 18 million euros from confiscation in Italy and cleaning them in Albania.
On April 25, 2023, the Special Court declared guilty and sentenced two of Rezart Taç's confidants in this criminal activity, Artur Balla and Bledar Lilo, a decision that was upheld by the Appeal in October, last year.
According to the investigation carried out by the Anti-Mafia Directorate in the Prosecutor's Office of Palermo and by SPAK, the financial operation for money laundering has spread to Italy, Switzerland and Tirana. Atwherw it was reported that as part of this operation the 90-year-old Italian entrepreneur, Francesco Zummo, previously investigated by magistrate Giovanni Falcone as a suspect for favoring the mafia organization "Cosa Nostra", ended up under house arrest.
The Palermo prosecutor's office also arrested accountant Fabio Petruzzella, the brother of a Palermo magistrate who lives and works in Milan. According to SPAK, the financial scheme was directed by Zummo and Petruzella, in cooperation with a Swiss citizen of Italian origin and the former Albanian oil boss, Rezart Taçi.
The bank transactions carried out by the arrested in a second-level bank in Albania were partially completed after the intervention of SPAK and the seizure of 18 million euros.
Rezart Taçi has been known as a hydrocarbon businessman for two decades, but he reached his peak during the Democratic Party government in the years 2005-2013, when through an unclear process, he managed to buy the oil processing company, ARMO, which he handed over to after the Azeris, with a mountain of debts. / BIRN
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