Former national team footballer Igli Tare appeared for the third time at the premises of the Special Prosecution, as part of the investigations involving former Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku. Since 10:00 on Monday morning, Tare has been before officers of the National Bureau of Investigation to account for a luxury residence in the Palasë area. According to the charges, the villa is registered in his name, but in essence it constitutes a hidden asset of Mrs. Balluku, which is now under seizure.
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According to SPAK, the initial construction phase, up to the shell level, was financially covered by Tare, while the remainder of the investment was carried out by the company “Alko Impex General Konstruktion”, owned by Arbër Abazi. This company is suspected of winning tenders during the period when Balluku was heading the Ministry of Infrastructure. As in previous appearances, the former striker, who is being investigated for money laundering, refused to speak to the media as he entered and exited the SPAK building.
Some time ago, SPAK had placed a seizure on another luxury residence, this time in the “White Rock” complex in Dhërmi. This property also appears in documents as Tare’s, but investigators have concluded that it is indirectly owned by the former minister. Balluku is under investigation for criminal offenses of corruption, money laundering, and concealment of assets, while she has already been charged with violating equality in several tender procedures worth millions of euros.
She is under coercive measures that include a ban on leaving the country and suspension from duty.
Residence in Palasë
The villa in Palasë, seized on September 9, is considered by SPAK as the “de facto ownership” of Belinda Balluku. From the design stage, it was conceived as a top-level building, equipped with a swimming pool and hot tubs similar to those at luxury hotels on the famous Greek island of Santorini. This emerges from two electronic communications that the Special Prosecution has included in the investigation file, sent by the studio “Atelier 4”. The messages date to September 2020, exactly one month before Igli Tare signed the construction contract, used as a shield for the real ownership.
The territory where her villa stands appears to coincide with that of another residence believed to belong to businessman Arbër Abazi. The latter is suspected of having taken on the remaining construction costs, in exchange for the favoritism shown to his firm “Alko Impex General Construction”. This company was declared the winner in October 2021 for one of the segments of the Great Ring Road of Tirana, a contract worth about 2.7 billion lekë including VAT.
The two emails sent suggest that at that time construction was still in its first steps, but their content shows that Balluku was closely involved in having a detailed vision of the residence that was completed in 2025. Moreover, it is implied that the architecture studio had previously presented another design variant.
“I’m sending you a revised version. Our concept is that, even if one day you decide to rent it out, visitors can experience the same level of luxury as in a hotel. The passages between the two bodies of the building are adorned with climbing plants on both sides. At one end of the pool, a staircase leads to a dining table set at water level, to fully enjoy the infinity effect. The part of the pool facing the sea also has a special surface for holding glasses and plates,” one of the messages states.
The ambitious project also included hot tubs inspired by the ‘Rocabella’ hotel in Santorini, known for hosting a very wealthy clientele. “In the two side wings of the houses, at the entrance and suite levels, two hot tubs are planned (refer to the Roccabella hotel in Santorini),” is the studio’s suggestion, which informs her that it will offer different options for the suite-type rooms.
“For the suites we will continue working with several variants. The kitchen separations from the living area and the wardrobe at the master bedroom are conceived as accordion-style. A large part of the spaces around the pool are treated with teak wood for a warmer feel and a bit of a yacht atmosphere,” the text is quoted.
Subsequently, the architecture studio informs that it will soon present the project in render form and clarifies: “if you don’t like it, we’ll go back to the variants with blue marble.” Four days later, on September 18, another email from “Atelier 4” sends Balluku a detailed 11-page file containing the floor plan and surface designs for the two villas, identified as “Twin Villas”.
The property in question has a plot of 478 square meters, spans two levels with a total construction area of 271.2 square meters, and includes two garages measuring 20 and 40 square meters respectively.
Property in the “White Rock” complex in Dhërmi
Earlier, the prosecution had placed a seizure on another residence in the south of the country, located in the luxury “White Rock” complex in Dhërmi, also registered in the name of Igli Tare. In its reasoning, the Special Prosecution had concluded that this villa constituted a bribe received in exchange for a tender awarded for the reconstruction of the Albcontrol building, during the period Balluku headed that institution.
In addition to suspicions of corruption and money laundering in eight tender cases (including the Llogara Tunnel, the six lots of the Great Ring Road, and the construction of the Sheshi Shqiponja-Bulevardi i Ri-Shkozë segment with the bridges over the Tirana River), investigators have communicated to the former minister an additional charge of “non-declaration or concealment of assets.”
