The Tirana Prosecution Office has charged former IT director Ervin Muça, who is accused of exporting the TIMS database of the State Police.
Journalist Klodiana Lala reports that Ervin Muça is accused of authorized access to computer systems, a case related to the copying of data in the TIMS system.
The investigative body has separated the case and is also investigating it for the criminal offense of abuse of office.
Ervin Muça has denied being involved in the intervention in the TIMS system before the black squads, emphasizing that he is innocent, while stating that he did not copy any data.
“I am innocent. I have done my duty, let justice take its course, I have not committed any violation. I have not copied any data. No one has asked me to,” said the former IT director in the session on April 12, 2024.
INVESTIGATIONS
The investigations of the Prosecution have resulted in the fact that on August 02, 2023, in the late hours of the night, in the database of the State Police, which is located in the building of the Directorate of Technology and Information with the address Rr. Mine Peza in Tirana, there was an unauthorized entry and export of data by the Director of Technology and Information, Ervin Muça.
The unauthorized person is learned to have entered the building with the personal pin of another employee, who was not present.
“The investigation of the criminal proceedings results in the fact that, on 02.08.2023, in the database of the State Police, which is located in the building of the Directorate of Technology and Information with the address Rr. Mine Peza in Tirana, there was an unauthorized entry and export of data by the Director of Technology and Information, Ervin Muça. The actions were carried out late at night, where unauthorized persons entered the building with the personal pin of another employee who was not present, raising reasonable suspicions of incorrect actions and in violation of the law,” the Prosecution’s announcement states, among other things.
The person under investigation says the Tirana Prosecution, according to AMP, results in the fact that on October 23, 2007, in Italy he was reported as responsible for the criminal offenses of false documents committed by private persons and the use of a false act. and on September 9, 2008, citizen Ervin Muça was notified of the decision to refuse the renewal of the residence permit obtained from the police headquarters in Bari.
The prosecution also notes that Ervin Muça did not declare in his application documents for the position of DTI in the state police that he worked as an external advisor to the Director of the State Cadastre Agency.
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The denunciation that set in motion the Directorate for the Investigation of Cybercrimes
The show “Në Shënjestër” by journalist Klodiana Lala dealt with the intervention in the TIMS system that caused numerous reactions, including that of the American embassy in Tirana, shedding light in detail on what happened.
Excerpt from the documentary:
And as if all these violations were not enough, according to the complainants, Director Ervin Muça, in a panic, also requested to delete the video footage of the cameras of the Department of Technology and Information’s premises, in order to prevent the identification of the people he had hired from abroad to export the TIMS system database.
“Director Ervin Muça also requested to urgently contact the person responsible for the cameras of the premises where the export was carried out by unknown persons, but at the moment this person has not responded. What has happened is a robbery of police data by a person who has not even been on the job for a month, and likewise not even a security certificate. Appointed with the utmost secrecy to obtain secret police information data just as he did in Taxation. Where this person was also the IT director at the Cadastre until a month ago, where he stole the entire database of mortgage assets of Albanians under the pretext of the digital cadastre”, the denunciation states. This denunciation also set in motion the Directorate for the Investigation of Cyber Crimes, at the Criminal Police Department, at the General Directorate of the State Police. During the investigation, security cameras in the premises of the Department of Technology and Information on ‘Mine Peza’ Street in Tirana were also examined, cameras from which, on August 2, 2023, the movements of external persons entering this department, summoned there by director Ervin Muça, were also recorded.
The secret report of the Police Supervision Agency states that the video footage showed that on August 2, 2023 at 17:45, Besjon Tanuzi, Director of the Systems Directorate, and a citizen identified as Klodian Mazari, with the position of sector manager at the AKSHI, at the Central Bureau of Investigation, entered the Directorate of Technology and Information. Citizen Marjana Shehi, who is not an employee of the DTI, also entered the institution. Based on further verifications, it turns out that these citizens entered the premises of the Directorate of Technology and Information, using the access card of one of the institution’s employees. And further, these same persons were seen entering the specialists’ office and leaving around midnight.
“From the security camera review, it appears that at 23:52, citizens Klodian Mazari and A. V. left the office. Both went up to the second floor. At 23:54, employee A.V. left the DTI offices and then at 00:19 on August 3, 2023, DTI Director Ervin Muça and citizen Klodian Mazari came down from the second floor and left,” the file states.
To hide his tracks or for other reasons, the fact is that Director Ervin Muça used the card of one of his employees to enter and exit the institution. Referring to the security camera footage, it appears that the Director of the Technology and Information Directorate, Ervin Muça, and the Director of the DTI Systems Directorate, Besjon Tanuzi, entered and exited the institution several times.
“It turns out that Ervin Muça left the institution at 23:01. He used the code of one of his subordinates in the entry-exit system. 15 minutes later, he entered the institution again using the subordinate’s code. The officer stated that she had given the access code to Director Besjon Tanuzi and not to his superior Ervin Muça,” the file states.
One of the elements of evidence that the investigative group secured was the Hard Disk that was used to export the materials from the TIMS system, where traces of the back-up performed on the external Hard Disk used by Director Ervin Muça and the people he had called for help were also identified, as well as the time intervals when the intervention in the server was made. A computer was used to access the server and through it the data would be copied to the Hard Disk.
“From the examination of the data of the TIMS system server, it resulted that the last change was made on August 3, 2023, at 01:39. Inside one folder there were three files, for which the last change was made on August 2, 2023, at 23:53. In a second folder there were four files, for three of which the last change was made on August 2, 2023, at 21:27. While for the other file the last change was made on August 2, 2023, at 23:20. In another folder there were 12 files, for 9 of which the last change was made on August 3, 2023, at 00:31. While for the next three files the last change was made on August 3, 2023, at 00:30”, the investigators explain.
So as it turns out above, for hours data was dumped on the Hard Disc, to finish I don’t know where, but of course these actions were carried out not to save citizens’ data, but the purpose was criminal. Interviewed by the investigative group, the director of the Department of Technology and Information at the State Police, Ervin Muça, justified himself regarding this intervention, that the regulation was unclear. And that there is no administration, regulation or standard procedure for the functioning of the DTI, as well as any order or written material regarding the actions in question. Meanwhile, the only accusation that so far weighs against him is that of the criminal offenses ‘Unauthorized Computer Access’ and ‘Abuse of Office’.
On Tuesday afternoon, the prosecution announced that Ervin Muca has been officially taken under investigation for the criminal offense of “Unauthorized Computer Access”.
As revealed by the show “Në Shenjëstër”, it is confirmed that “on 02.08.2023, in the database of the State Police, which is located in the building of the Directorate of Technology and Information with the address Rr. Mine Peza in Tirana, there was an unauthorized entry and export of data by the Director of Technology and Information, Ervin Mucca. The actions were carried out late at night, where unauthorized persons entered the building with the personal pin of another employee who was not present, raising reasonable suspicions of incorrect actions and contrary to the law.
The prosecution has revealed the fact that Ervin Muça has hidden details of his past in Italy. “The person under investigation, according to letter no. 3041/1 prot, dated 08.01.2024 of the Police Supervision Agency, it results that on 23.10.2007 in Italy he was reported as responsible for the criminal offenses of false documents committed by private persons and the use of a false act. On 09.09.2008, citizen E. M. was notified of the decision to refuse the renewal of the residence permit obtained by the police headquarters in Bari”.
“From the investigation and criminal proceedings, among other things, it results that the person under investigation is an external advisor to the Director of the State Cadastre Agency, while he is also the Director of the Department for Technology and Information in the State Police. The Law on the State Police prohibits second activities other than teaching. The person under investigation, Ervin Muça, did not declare this second activity in the application documents for the position of DTI in the state police”, concludes the prosecution. An investigation that in any case remains incomplete as long as he continues to quietly carry out his duties and the reason why he attempted to export the police database still remains unclear. And if someone higher up is behind him who, with his own hands, was interested in having this data in his hands, so important./Gazeta Panorama
