SPAK, on the basis of two investigations that were initially investigated separately, but merged into a single one during the last weeks, charges the head of the PL, Ilir Meta, with criminal responsibility.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office has raised suspicions that he was involved in at least 3 cases of corruption while exercising the duties he held in the past. He is then suspected of laundering money derived from corruption and hiding his wealth.
The two files that produced the arrest warrant for the head of PL, are related to the CEZ-DIA file and where LSI lobbying and some surgical interventions made by Meta and Kryemadhi were being investigated.
It is suspected that the payments for these interventions were not declared. According to SPAK, several episodes have been documented where the subjects of this criminal proceeding, I.M. and M. K. in collaboration with each other, but also with other public officials, have been involved in the commission of several criminal offenses.
“1- It has been proven that the former Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy, I. M., used his authority and influence to interfere in the process of concluding the contract between the company “Debt International Advisory” and the company CEZ Shpërndarje. The purpose of this contract was to assist in the identification and collection of arrears. These closely related relationships have directly influenced the selection process of DIA to perform CEZ’s debt collection services, despite the fact that the company did not meet all the legal and professional criteria to manage obligations of this nature. The “Debt International Advisory” company, through this agreement, irregularly benefited in the amount of 649,803,520 ALL, which was confirmed by a final court decision. The investigations so far have revealed that I.M. has requested and received significant sums of money from Mr. K. I., during the period when he held the function of the minister, a task which included the supervision of the privatization process of CEZ and the conclusion of contracts for the collection of debts, thus consuming the elements of the criminal offense of “Passive corruption of high state officials or local elected officials”, provided by article 260 of the Criminal Code.
2- The investigations showed that the citizen I.M., thanks to his function as Speaker of the Assembly and his wife, M.K. as a member of the Assembly, in 2014 used their influence influencing the leaders of various state institutions as well as the leaders of the mobile phone companies, with the aim of entering the fiber optic market as well as the conclusion of the interconnection agreement between the company “U… C… INC” and a private mobile phone company”, – the file states. SPAK informs that “As a result of this illegal influence, the subjects under investigation I.M. and M.K. have benefited from their percentage share of the company’s profit, and have been provided with credit cards by the company’s administrator. The expenses made through these cards were not declared in the periodic declarations of assets by the investigators”. “The person under investigation P. Xh., using his authority as the President of AKEP, elected by the Parliament of Albania with the proposal of the political entity “Socialist Movement for Integration” (LSI), in implementation of the orders received from the entities I. M. and M.K., not only influenced the managers of the mobile telephone company for the finalization of the agreement, but on the other hand, allowed the private company to exercise its activity in violation of the AKEP law. For these reasons, the persons under investigation I.M. and M.K. there are suspicions that they have committed the criminal offense of “Passive corruption of high state officials or elected officials”, in collaboration, assisted by the other person under investigation, P. Xh., who is accused of the same criminal offense.
3- During the investigation, it also emerged that the couple I.M. and M.K., have entered into corrupt relations with the businessman S.M., temporarily benefiting from a villa as a reward for the illegal influence they exerted on public officials appointed by LSI, in the interest of the economic activities of the businessman in question. The person under investigation M.K., at the behest of the businessman in question, also undertook the change of a law in the Parliament of Albania (the law which was changed at the request of the businessman S.M.).
4- During the period 2016-2017, I. M. as the chairman of the Socialist Movement for Integration Party, has concluded and executed contracts for consultancy and lobbying services with the companies Global Security and Innovative Solution LLC and the McKeon Group Inc. in the United States of America. The investigation shows that part of the financing of the contracts was made with bank transfers from the accounts of the political entity, Socialist Movement for Integration, while the amount of USD 463,546.26 was not transferred from the bank accounts of this political entity. It also results that this amount of money, which was not transferred from the bank accounts of the political force, was not reflected in the balance sheets of the political entity Socialist Integration Movement, deposited with the Central Election Commission. The file states:
“5- For the period 2009-2010, by the persons under investigation, I.M., M.K. and F.K., a duplex apartment located in the area known as “former Block”, declared as financed with a bank loan, was purchased. The investigation has shown that the amount of 310,000 euros used for the purchase of the first floor of the duplex was poured into the banking system by F.K., and the amount of 335,000 euros borrowed from F.K. was also repaid with money deposited in second level bank in the Republic of Albania, in March-November 2010. This money is suspected to originate from the illegal activity of citizens I.M. and M.K. as well as the bank loan was used as a cover and a way to introduce significant sums of money into the banking system.
6- The investigation showed that citizens I.M. and M.K. have not declared the medical expenses incurred during the period 2013-2019, in the total value of 106,125 euros. Of these expenses, 86,891 euros were paid in cash. The investigations have revealed that in the declaration of Annual Private Interests for the year 2019, submitted to ILDKPKI on May 29, 2020, these subjects did not declare health expenses in the amount of 9,000 Euros carried out in a private clinic abroad, as well as the amount of 100,000 Euros in the account two name banks, which belong to E.M. and F. K.. Subjects I.M. and M. K. are suspected of having committed the criminal offense of “Refusal to declare, non-declaration, concealment and false declaration of assets, private interests of elected persons and public servants”, provided for by Article 275/a of the Criminal Code. The Special Prosecutor’s Office has conducted investigations within the framework of criminal proceedings no. 55 of 2019 (sent for competence by the Prosecution for Serious Crimes), 122 of 2022 (registered on the basis of the report of citizen I.B.), 125 of 2022 (registered on the basis of the report of citizen H.V.), 165 of 2022 (registered on the basis of the report of citizen I.B.), which have been joined in a single proceeding, being numbered criminal proceeding no. 55/2019″.
After carrying out numerous investigative actions and analysis of the evidence, on 09.10.2024 the Special Prosecutor’s Office addressed the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime with the request to assign security measures to four citizens. With decision no. 125 dated 20.10.2024, the Special Court of First Instance has decided:
“1. The appointment of the measure of personal security “Arrest in prison” provided by article 238 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to the person under investigation I. M., suspected of committing criminal offenses; “Passive corruption of high state officials or local elected officials” in 3 (three) cases, of which in two cases it was carried out in cooperation, “Cleaning of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity” carried out in cooperation and more than one times, and “Refusal to declare, non-declaration, concealment or false declaration of assets, private interests of elected persons and public servants, or of any person who has the legal obligation to declare” provided by articles 260 and 25, 287/2 and 257/a/2 of the Penal Code.
2. The appointment of the personal security measure “Compulsion to appear before the judicial police” provided by Article 234 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to the person under investigation, M. K., suspected of committing criminal offenses; “Passive corruption of high state officials or local elected officials” in 2 (two) cases and in cooperation, “Cleaning of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity” carried out in cooperation, and “Refusal to declare, non-declaration, concealment or declaration false assets, private interests of elected persons and public servants, or of any person who has the legal obligation to declare” provided by articles 260 and 25, 287/2 and 257/a/2 of the Penal Code.
3. The assignment of the measure of personal security “House arrest” provided by article 237 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to the person under investigation P. Xh. suspected of committing the criminal offense “Passive corruption of high state officials or local elected officials”, committed in cooperation, provided by articles 260 and 25 of the Criminal Code. 4. The appointment of the measure of personal security “Compulsion to appear before the judicial police” provided by article 234 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, to the person under investigation E. Ç., suspected of committing the criminal offense of “Cleaning of products of the criminal offense or criminal activity” carried out in cooperation provided by article 287/2 of the Criminal Code”.
SPAK arrests Ilir Meta, measure also for Kryemadhi, Pirro Xixho and Ema Çoku
Meta was handcuffed around 12:20 by BKH agents at Kthesa e Kamza, while he was going to the party headquarters. He had scheduled a press conference at 1:40 p.m. Yes, by order of SPAK, “Obligation to appear” has been assigned to his ex-wife, Monika Kryemadhi. The president of PL, Ilir Meta, was returning from Kosovo and was kept under surveillance by BKH agents from the border point of Morina, after he entered the territory of Albania. BKH agents and police forces were “disguised” to avoid detection as they used modest vehicles to move around. They followed the car in which Ilir Meta was traveling from Morina to Kthesa e Kamza, where they handcuffed him. The two vehicles in which the officers were traveling blocked the way of the car in which the president of PL was located, where one of the police vehicles, as seen from the footage, was in front, while the other was behind. Then the BKH agents and the Special Forces took him out of the car by force and Mr. Meta was escorted to the Local Police Directorate of Tirana. SPAK has imposed security measures against two other people besides former President Ilir Meta and MP Monika Kryemadhi. Pirro Xixho was placed under “house arrest” in absentia, while Ema Çoku was forced to appear. Pirro Xixho is the father of Erisa Xixho, the vice-president of the Freedom Party. After leaving the premises of the Police Directorate, Meta was received by many supporters, while he was sent to the Security Prison, where he will have to stay for up to 72 hours until he appears before the black squads for verification of the security measure. Just like the supporters of the Freedom Party, Meta’s lawyer, Genc Gjokutaj, did not hide the tension as he confirmed the three serious charges against his client. “The moment is political, here is the duo Rama-Dumani and with the help of the masses, the former associates of Meta have formed a decision, which we have just taken. His attitude is clear, he will face the process. There are three charges, corruption, cleaning of products and non-declaration of assets. The chief is under investigation. It was a meeting like any other, only in a different setting. The manner in which he was arrested is bandit-like, the former President, the former Prime Minister of the country was kidnapped on the street”, declared Gjokutaj.
REACTION
Former President Ilir Meta reacted on “Facebook” after his arrest at noon on Monday with the arrest warrant of SPAK. From the cell where he is, on Meta’s “Facebook” page, an official response has been made by the people who manage him, where it is written that from today a new era begins in the fight against what he calls “narcotics”. Ilir Meta says that his arrest was a gangland kidnapping. We remind you that Ilir Meta is accused by SPAK of corruption, money laundering and concealment of assets. Ilir Meta is staying in the Security Block in “Mine Peza” until he appears before the court for the evaluation of the arrest, which is expected to happen in 48-72 hours.
“I sincerely thank all the members of the Freedom Party for the extraordinary support they have given me so far. Likewise, from today our struggle begins a new page in confronting the brutally installed narco-state without any compromise. I am convinced of the victory of our national and democratic causes! Enemies of our nation and democracy will laugh at their lips. My kidnapping today in the most thuggish way shows the panic of the dictatorial regime from confronting the truths. I assure you that after learning about the decision of my arrest, I feel stronger than ever and I believe very much in my complete innocence. I feel proud that I was violently kidnapped by anti-Albanians and Albanian speakers just for my patriotism and the protection of national interests”.
We recall that Meta has been to SPAK several times, where he was questioned about an investigation regarding a payment made for lobbying in the United States. Also, the Special Prosecutor’s Office has long since started a property investigation against him and his ex-wife Monika Kryemadhi. The Special Prosecutor’s Office has previously registered at least 3 criminal proceedings that are based on reports made by citizens, but also other persons related to the former President Ilir Meta, but also Kryemadhi, reports which have been translated into proceedings registered for issues of corruption, money laundering and non-declaration of assets.
Kryemadhi: Ilir Meta’s inhuman stop in the middle of the road
Deputy Monika Kryemadhi considers the arrest in the middle of the road of former President Ilir Meta by order of SPAK to be inhumane. In a reaction on social networks, Kryemadhi says that she has already been officially informed about the charges that SPAK has brought against her, for which the court has set an obligation to appear. Kryemadhi, the ex-wife of Ilir Meta, considers the criminal offenses against her to be false accusations and states that she has authorized the lawyers to face them legally.
“The monstrous transnational crimes of Edi Rama and his friends, regular users of ‘SKY’ and ‘ECC’, cannot be amnestied with the ugly scenes of the inhuman detention of the former President of Albania in the middle of the road. State mafia thefts like that of incinerators that continue every day and in every sector, cannot be washed away with the public trials that can be done to the leaders of the Albanian opposition, through judicial processes without evidence and without facts. The crimes of some prosecutors of the Special Prosecution, who do not dare to mention the names Edi Rama and Erion Veliaj, amnestying them and submitting to the power contrary to their legal role as prosecutors of the republic, when Rama and Veliaj committed the crimes and commit by leaving a mark on state documents, they cannot be amnestied even if military officials of justice raise political charges against every opposition MP in Parliament, or the leader of the opposition party”, – declared Kryemadhi./Gazeta Panorama
