FLASH
Shkruar nga Ferdinand Dervishi
Today, on the 27th anniversary of the collapse of the Terrible Pyramids...
At the beginning of 1997, the collapse of the fraudulent financial schemes that Albanians know as "pyramids" took the state itself down with it.
A good part of Albanians lost their savings, another part lost their homes or even businesses, which they had sold on purpose to benefit from these schemes.
The state reacted to freeze the assets of these fraudulent schemes only in January 1997, after the outbreak of violent protests across the country.
Creditors were repaid a few scraps of lost money, while the frozen assets of pyramid schemes were sold for a pittance.
And in this game, fraudsters, sometimes of an international level, have rushed to take advantage of the misfortune of the Albanians.
One such appears in Switzerland, contacting our ambassador at the time, Gazmend Turdiu.
The meeting is described in a letter dated February 1, 1997, which the ambassador sends to the Foreign Minister, Tritan Shehu.
According to the letter, an unknown person had offered himself by promising to help the Albanian state for the return of several tens of millions of dollars of the "Xhaferri" and "Populli" piamides, hidden in a Swiss bank.
The enigmatic character was called Thomas HUMPHRY, he was from South Africa, and he claimed that he had recently deposited, on behalf of the Pyramids "Xhaferri" and "Populli", a significant amount of gold in a Swiss bank.
"Initially he says that he was in contact with Xhaferri, then with Populli. So far, about 600 gold bars weighing 400 ounces each, with a total value of approximately $87 million, have been sent in their favor...
The bank where the gold is deposited is UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland). The gold purchase order (UBS is authorized to buy gold transactions) came through a Japanese bank.”
Two weeks later, on February 18, 1997, Ambassador Turdiu sent a second letter to Minister Tritan Shehu.
The ambassador informs the foreign minister that he has met with the South African Thomas HUMPHRY, who explained to him:
"The Populli and Xhaferri foundations have ordered 600 gold bars worth about 87 million dollars from the Reserves Bank of Johannesburg. So far, 26 loads or a total of 520 gold bars weighing 400 ounces each have been deposited in the Swiss bank. The transportation of the gold was done under the auspices of Cross Trade - that is, by himself."
And finally the trap. South Africa, in a super thin scheme, suggests that the only way to recover the gold deposits of these pyramids is to make another order through his firm, with the aim of then tracking the cargo.
Only in this way, according to him, could the accounts of "Xhaferri" and "Populli" in the UBS Bank of Switzerland be found and the gold be blocked and transferred to Albania.
According to the South African, his profit, after these maneuvers, should have been 1 and 5/8 of the amount of gold that was to be recovered.
In his note, even though he considered the offer, Ambassador Turdiu also predicted the possibility of losing the money needed to implement this scheme.
"To set the proposed scheme in motion we have to pay for an amount of gold of approximately 2.7 million dollars, which is not only heavy on our finances, but dealing with experts, we face the risk of losing them. "
At this point, the fraud scheme was clearer. South Africa claimed to implement its plan by transferring to its own account 2.7 million dollars offered by the Albanian state.
According to his plan, with this amount he would again buy a quantity of gold in South Africa and deposit it in the Swiss bank.
Of course, the "goal" against the Albanian state would be scored at the moment when the 2.7 million dollars would be transferred to the account of the unknown South African.
On April 1, 1997, Ambassador Turdiu recognized the next Foreign Minister, Arjan Starova, at the request of the South African.
On July 21, 1997, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paskal Milo, was recognized with the same persistent offer, who forwarded the information to the Ministry of Finance and the General Prosecutor's Office.
Fortunately, the Albanian state has not followed this adventure./ Pamphlet
Lini një Përgjigje