FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
SPAK has sent Ilir Beqaj and other defendants to trial for the EU funds abuse case. In addition to the 6 charges brought against the former minister and SASPAC director, SPAK has provided details on the corruption scheme and the seized assets.
Excerpt from SPAK's announcement
1. During the investigations conducted, it is proven that the defendant, Ilir Beqaj, has been acquainted with the defendant, Ermal Kurtulaj, at least since 2012, when the defendant was a partner at the company “Intech” sh.pk
The defendant Ermal Kurtulaj appears to have worked in 2017 at FSDKSH, then in several different projects and since 01.06.2022 he has worked as the coordinator of the "Facility Point" office, for the "EUSAIR" program, at SASPAC, appointed by the defendant Ilir Beqaj himself according to order no. 80, dated 26.05.2022.
During the exercise of his duties as Director General of SASPAC, the defendant Ilir Beqaj, acting as the ordering party in collaboration with the defendant, Ermal Kurtulaj, who acted as the executing party, during the years 2022-2023 carried out fictitious procurement procedures in violation of the "PRAG" rules, set out in the Rules of Implementation of the Financial Regulation, applicable to all EU external aid contracts, financed by the EU General Budget, the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) and mandatory to be implemented according to Article 5 letter "c" of Law no. 37/2015 “On the Ratification of the Framework Agreement Between the Republic of Albania, Represented by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the European Commission on the Rules of Implementation of the EU Financial Support to Albania, within the framework of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II)” and Law No. 21/2018 “On the Ratification of the Financing Agreement between the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Italy and the European Commission, for the Interreg VB Adriatic-Ionian (Adrion) Programme 2014-2020”.
All services procured within the framework of the events "On the organization of the FESTA Conference (The Future of Environmentally Sustainable Tourism in Albania)" and "Energy Conference" as well as "Cooperation in the Adriatic and Ionian Region", organized in 2023, were not subject to a regular procurement procedure, but the winner was agreed and determined long before the procurement procedure was carried out, which was then fictitiously carried out for documentation purposes.
These tenders were conducted through a competitive negotiation procedure, which were ordered to be carried out by the defendant, Ilir Beqaj in his capacity as General Director, who signed the agreement to perform the specified service; the invitations sent to the entities to submit bids according to the type of procurement, the order for the establishment of a commission to evaluate the bids; the letter sent to the winner after the evaluation, as well as the conclusion of the contract, the payment orders - these actions were carried out some time later, from the conclusion and implementation of the contract.
Some of the services appear to have been fictitiously procured, as the commercial companies did not provide services, but rather defrauded in collaboration with the defendants Ilir Beqaj and Ermal Kurtulaj, for the purpose of material gain, and in at least two cases it is proven that the latter received irregular benefits from the defendants who represented these commercial companies.
2. The defendant Ilir Beqaj has made a false declaration on his assets from 2020 onwards, after he has hidden property interests in 50% of the shares in the commercial company “Albanian Food and Hospitality Services” shpk, with NIPT L91329021O and has not declared the expenses incurred for investments in this commercial company; has hidden the ownership and has not declared the expenses related to an apartment located in the city of Vlora; and has hidden the ownership of a vehicle.
As part of the investigations, a preventive seizure was imposed on the real estate (apartment), located in Lungomare, Vlora, and several bank accounts, and others were seized by the defendants, as follows:
14 323 125 (fourteen million three hundred twenty-three thousand one hundred twenty-five) lekë;
15,542 (fifteen thousand five hundred forty-two) euros;
42 318 (forty-two thousand three hundred and eighteen) USD;
19.4% of the shares of the trading company "Albanian Food and Hospitality Services" sh.pk
Three vehicles registered to the defendants
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