Berat Prosecutor’s Office seeks “House Arrest” and “Mandatory Appearance” for 11 people; millions of lek, euros, dollars and pounds seized

The Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction in Berat has requested the security measures of “House Arrest” and “Obligation to appear before the judicial police” for 11 people who are under investigation for the criminal offense of “Conducting financial activities without a license.” According to the investigation carried out as part of criminal proceeding No. 47, it was found that in six verified commercial entities, the administrators and their employees had been conducting currency exchange activity without authorization from the competent authorities.

The proactive investigation, which lasted six months and was carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction in Berat, extended across five municipalities of the county and proved the illegal activity of the citizens S.T., H.S., M.M., S.H., S.C., A.H., A.S., O.V., Z.M., E.T. and K.P.

The individuals in question had businesses registered with the activity object of “Agent for carrying out financial activity for money transfers in the name and on behalf of a financial entity, non-bank.” More specifically, the Unionnet and Western Union services, located in Berat and Kuçovë, were found not to appear on the list of licensed currency exchange offices, operating without a license issued by the Bank of Albania.

With authorization granted by the prosecution body to allow undercover actions and covert photographic, film or video recording, 28 monetary exchange operations were carried out at the suspected entities, proving that they were conducting this activity without a license. Subsequently, the Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction in Berat requested the security measures of “Obligation to appear before the judicial police” and “House Arrest,” as provided for under Articles 233, 234 and 237 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

During searches carried out as part of these proceedings, 88 million lek, 118 thousand euros, 7,390 dollars and 665 pounds were found and seized.