FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The denunciations against the loan scandal from institutions that collect bad debts, Micro Credit Albania and FINAL continue. These two institutions have openly challenged the Bank of Albania and the law enforcement institutions, since even after the suspension of the license, they continue to extort tens of citizens.
The maneuvers of MCA and recently FINAL to collect a small debt, of 7,100 ALL, led to the freezing of bank accounts and the seizure of the house. The debt passed through several hands, loan after loan, and now that MCA's license has been suspended, the FINAL company has entered the "game". But both have the same address, the same employees and make the same deals. About 1.4 million lek have been paid for the initial debt of 7,100 lek and another 280,000 lek are required!
In the editorial office of the "Fiks Fare" show, Mr. Fiqiri Bruçi. He says that his wife received an overdraft in 2006 with an amount of 160 thousand new leks at a second level bank. They paid 210 thousand ALL for this amount. "I did the meetings and I thought I had paid them off. A few years passed and I was informed that part of the liability, which was only 7,100 ALL, had been sold to MCA, a company that collects bad debts. At that time, the MCA had an address near the Ministry of Justice, and they asked us for 250,000 ALL," Fiqiriu asserts.
According to him, at first they did not accept, but when their salaries were blocked in the bank, they went to the offices and there they were "forced" to take a loan. "We don't know what we did, we went to a second-tier bank and the MCA took out a consumer loan for us. They didn't give me any contract. Only a check for 250,000 lek, where this money went from the MCA account to the MCA account," continues the citizen. "We did not receive any money. I did not understand what actions the MCA did. A few years passed again and in 2019 I learned that the debt had increased to over 1 million new lek. I paid 900 thousand once, then from 50 thousand, 30, 20 or 10 thousand. In total, I paid 1,160,000 ALL to MCA. And here we put another 210,000 Lek in the second-level bank and the amount is close to 1.4 million paid," says the citizen.
In 2023, the Bruçi family made an agreement with the MCA to pay this outstanding amount, 280 thousand ALL, in installments. They paid several installments and in April 2024, they learned that this liability had been sold to the company FINAL sh.pk, already in the amount of 457 thousand ALL. "Our remaining obligation was 280,000 and we were informed that MCA Albania has made a deed-agreement for the repayment of our obligations within 12 months from the signed date. This deed-agreement does not turn out to have been signed by us," says the whistleblower.
After the complaint, he goes to the MCA offices, to the former Train Station in Tirana, where he asks the employee why they sold it to FINAL. "I'll see the FINAL once," she replies, as she asks him to wait at the same place. In fact, the whistleblower went to the offices of Micro Credit Albania, but the same employee admits that she will also see the debit of the FINAL institution. They are the same employees, but only the name has changed, from MCA to FINAL, after the license was suspended by the Bank of Albania.
The whistleblower asks the employee why this amount went. "They could be Fiqiri's enforcement fees, because it went to Enforcement, included in the total liabilities," she tells him, as he asks if he has paid a significant amount. "Yes, yes, it increased since the enforcement fee was also added to you due to non-payment on time. Here is the total liability. The act-agreement does not suspend the enforcement procedure," she tells him. He also asks him about the consumer loan that MCA gave him, without him receiving any money in hand. "If you see this money here, it has been transferred to the Micro Credit account. You no longer work with the credit bank that gave you the loan. The financial institution, bank, that gave you a loan is xxx bank. The loan was purchased by Micro Credit. Then it was sold by Micro Credit to FINAL," she tells him, adding that what MCA has done is that it has financed it to close that bad loan and has given it a new loan. The employee admits that the initial obligation was 7,100 ALL, but the 250,000 ALL loan was to repay the debt.
Meanwhile, after a few days, the same employees call the citizen again to the offices near the former train station in Tirana. In that country, the employees speak both on behalf of MCA and on behalf of the company FINAL. "Fiqiri will you make the payment or we will deal with these details one by one. If we are going to deal with these, let's stay and deal with the words what is written there" they say, as they ask him to pay 290 thousand ALL. The citizen asks him several times what the fees are, the percentage or other details. "We don't have it fixed, it depends on how you pay. It depends on how much installment you have. It depends on how much you have in total. It depends on what procedures are done for your liability. We can't have them fixed in this way because, you don't only get the interest, but the enforcement fees are also added to you," she tells him. He also asks how much the enforcement services are.
"No, we cannot give it. We currently have 1 obligation and we cannot divide it in this case, how much is principal and how much is interest. Because we are no longer at the initial stage where we could share it. We are at the stage where some actions have been taken regarding this obligation. So we can't share it. I can't give it in detail, we can't share it," she says, while affirming that she will give him a certificate of how much was paid from the beginning to the last value, but only if he pays 290,000 ALL. "I will give you proof, definitely yes. The payment deadline was yesterday, so until the 20th I don't know if I will wait for payment," she concludes. So, if you don't pay this amount, the value will increase again!
Fiks Fare addressed a request to the Bank of Albania if the financed institution Micro Credit Albania is licensed and what loans it provides. In response to the investigative show, the Bank of Albania says that MCA was licensed in 2013 for granting microloans and in 2016 for the financial activity of all forms of lending. "After the 1-year suspension throughout the year 2023, on February 6, 2024, the Bank of Albania has suspended lending activity, including the purchase of loans or the restructuring of existing ones, until June 30, 2024," this response states.
But, as Fiks Fare found, the employees of this institution continue to restructure. "During this time," says the bank, MCA is only allowed to sell the portfolio of existing loans to third parties, licensed by the Bank of Albania. And reflect immediately in the reduction of the client's obligation for each payment of the obligation on their part. After June 30, the entity will have to be liquidated".
In the present case, MCA sold this loan to another FINAL entity. The latter, not only did not reduce the obligations, but doubled them. All actions, both by MCA and FINAL, were done by the same employees and in the same offices, near the former train station in Tirana. These contrary to the decision of the Bank of Albania./ TCH
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