FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The pamphlet has provided sufficient evidence that Amant Josifi's network not only did not disappear after the November 2022 strike, but was transformed into a more sophisticated criminal structure, moving from physical call centers to a digital fraud ecosystem with the facade of "cryptocurrency assistance", while laundered money is flowing into Albania through a network of prestos, shell companies, fast-food restaurants, bars, taxis, marketing companies and investments in towers and villa complexes...
Their connection is so close that, according to media and investigative sources, former employees of Josif's call centers, who until 2021 received modest salaries as low-level operators and managers, in just three years have transformed into owners of construction companies that invest hundreds of thousands of euros in cash and own apartments worth millions of euros.
How the criminal scheme was transformed
Between 2015 and 2022, Josif’s network operated as an industrial-scale fraud infrastructure. Fake investment platforms such as CryptoKartal, AurumPro, Virtual Stocks, Absolut Global Markets and dozens of others, all coordinated by Milton Group, used specialized software to simulate trades. Trained operators acted as “investment advisors” and managed victims through an advanced CRM. The total damage claimed by Spanish authorities amounts to 2.4–2.5 billion euros.
But the crux of this scheme was not just fraud. According to the German case file that led to the conviction of Mikheil Biniashvili, known as “Mishka”, the PumaTS software was not only used for Milton Group operations, but was also sold to other criminal groups. The German court awarded tens of millions of euros in additional damages to the operations that used this software. This means that Josifi and his network were not simply part of a criminal organization, but represented a criminal ‘franchise’ model, distributed in Albania through his front companies.
After the SPAK raids on November 8-9, 2022 and the arrest of programmers and call center administrators, Josifi fled to Dubai. But the network did not disappear. What happened in the last two years is a profound transformation of the criminal model.
NEW PHASE: “Crypto Assistance” as an extortion front
From 2024 to the present, investigations have documented that Josif’s network has entered a new phase of activity, which is disguised as legitimate “cryptocurrency assistance” services. On Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram, profiles and pages that appear to be financial advisory companies offer “crypto investment assistance” and “cash to cryptocurrency conversion services.”
At first glance, these are legitimate businesses. But according to the data obtained by the investigation, they constitute the facade of a new extortion scheme. Victims contact for investment assistance and are then exposed to a well-organized fraud process. The “3 percent fee” model for converting cash to USDT is just the entrance. Once the victim enters the system, they are lured into fake trading platforms, where profits are simulated and withdrawal of funds becomes impossible.
BIRN/Balkan Insight has reported that Albania has become a hub for the financial fraud industry, and that in 2024 alone, SPAK had 11 active investigations into call center fraud by structured criminal groups. But what is happening now is not simply a continuation of the old model. According to the same report, the modern scheme no longer relies solely on the telephone, but on an entire ecosystem: software, CRM, short-lived websites and social engineering.
Money Laundering in Albania: From Call Centers to Construction and Fast Food Chains
But the most disturbing part of this transformation is the way money is being laundered in Albania. The pamphlet has provided ample evidence that funds generated by call center scams and now the new “crypto assistance” scheme are being channeled into Albania through a vast network of prestanoes, shell companies and investments in the construction sector, fast-food restaurants, bars, taxis and marketing companies.
Money laundering does not only occur through large construction projects. The pamphlet has documented a whole network of shell companies that serve as multiple layers to hide the money. At the same address where the former Municipality specialist's companies are registered, other entities such as taxi companies, property businesses, holding companies and several natural persons who have established activities in the years 2024-2026 are also registered.
These companies have no real activity comparable to the flows that pass through them. They are used to create a facade of legitimacy and distribute funds through false invoices, service contracts, and mutual payments.
It is striking that in the same period, some of Josif's former employees have emerged as owners of fast-food restaurants, bars and marketing companies in Tirana. This is a classic money laundering model: businesses with high cash turnover that are used to "legitimize" black money through fake invoices and inflated turnover declarations.
Aleksandër Josifi, Amant Josifi's father, appears as the administrator of several companies founded during the years when his son was building the call center empire. The companies in his name have had as their object of activity the trade of construction materials and transport services, but according to the investigation, they have served as an additional layer for channeling funds towards investments in real estate, following the same prestanome model used today by former employees of the network.
Questions that remain unanswered:
How long has SPAK been in motion for Amant Josif's prestanomen?
How many shell companies linked to his former call center employees have been identified so far?
How many times have these companies been reported by financial institutions for suspicious transactions?
The company CONSTRUCTION 21, directly linked to Amant Josif and his Georgian partner Revaz Saakadze, has carried out the works of the KFC and Pizza Hut chains in Albania. Saakadze, known in international files as the “ideatrix of fraudulent forex schemes in Europe” and Josif’s partner in the Milton Group call centers, appears together with Aleksandër Josif, Amant Josif’s father, in the construction company Balkan Investment Group, suspected of money laundering. To hide the connections, the shareholders have emerged through the companies CONSTRUCTION 21 and NEW STANDARD. Through this structure, hundreds of millions of euros extorted from European victims have been channeled into the construction of fast-food chains, turning KFC and Pizza Hut into one of the largest black money launderers in Albania. (continued) /Pamphlet
Lini një Përgjigje