A series of intercepted phone calls, combined with other evidence, including an analysis of video footage and a rental car, enabled Tirana’s Criminal Police to identify and arrest Robert Duka, the suspect in two bank robberies in the capital, yesterday evening.
Robert, also known as Albert Duka, is suspected of spending most of the nearly 120,000 euros stolen from branches of OTP Bank and Raiffeisen Bank at several casinos in Tirana.
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Duka reportedly gave 6,000 euros to two friends in Vlorë, handing each of them 3,000 euros.
Police have now seized that money following searches conducted by Tirana officers in Vlorë.
The two men were questioned and said Robert Duka had given them the money to repay a debt he owed them.
Meanwhile, during a search of Duka’s home, the Criminal Police seized only 2,200 euros.
In conversations with police officers, Albert Duka said he had spent the money stolen from the two banks on June 2, 2026, and November 2, 2026, gambling at several casinos in Tirana.
To verify those claims, police and prosecutors reportedly asked four well-known casinos in the capital today to confirm whether Albert Duka had been a registered customer.
If so, the casinos were asked to provide all relevant documents and video footage.
However, Robert Duka did not make his claim that he had spent the stolen money at casinos in a formally recorded statement. He made the claim only in conversations with police officers and the prosecutor handling the case.
Duka reportedly did not give a formally recorded statement because his defense lawyer did not permit it.
As part of the investigation, Robert Duka’s wife, who works at a commercial bank in Tirana, was also questioned. She said they had obtained the 120,000 euros from the sale of an apartment near the Air Albania stadium.
She told police she had not known of her husband’s involvement in the bank robberies. She was released after giving her statement, while her husband was arrested on a charge of armed bank robbery, which carries a prison sentence of 10 to 20 years.
Albert Duka is expected to appear before the Tirana Court tomorrow to learn what pretrial measure will be imposed on him.
Meanwhile, the investigation continues to determine whether Duka had accomplices in the two robberies. Tirana police and prosecutors are working to identify others involved, as they suspect a second person drove the perpetrator away after the OTP Bank robbery on June 2, 2026.
The robbery at the Raiffeisen Bank branch was also carried out in a similar way to the OTP Bank robbery.
According to investigators, both robberies took place on the second day of their respective months. On June 2, 2026, a masked Albert Duka quickly entered OTP Bank and, after taking money at gunpoint, left the area on an electric scooter.
The same figure was seen at Raiffeisen Bank on November 2, 2026. In that case, too, a masked Albert Duka entered the bank with what appeared to be a pistol and took money from a cash register.
The suspect is believed to have used the same escape method as in the first robbery. He rode away calmly on an electric scooter, then, after traveling a certain distance, put it in a rental car. He drove away, thereby evading police checks.
Duka previously lived in Greece, where he is suspected of carrying out 26 armed bank robberies.
