NAMES/ They Claimed to Have Young Children, Pregnant Wives and Health Problems, Call Center Group Fails to Convince Appeals Court

A group suspected of online fraud through a network of call centers in Tirana has failed to get out of jail at the capital’s Court of Appeal, even though arguments were presented before the panel related to caring for minor children, pregnant wives and even surgical procedures.

Despite the claims made by most of them, including Ledio Toçi, Xhoel Mekolli and others, that they are family men with children and pregnant wives to care for, Appeals Court judge Valdete Hoxha was not convinced to change the security measure from “arrest in prison” to a lighter form of detention.

Ledio Toçi requested a relaxation of the security measure on the grounds that he must fulfill the role of father to a 2-year-old child. Xhoel Mekolli took the same line, stating that his partner, A. Bishami, is pregnant and that he must care for her because the pregnancy poses a risk.

At the hearing, Mekolli also added that his continued stay in prison exposes him to infections, as he has undergone surgery for “recurrent pilonidal sinus.”

Meanwhile, the Tirana Court of Appeal has published the full decision, in which Eduart Dalla, Mateo Hoxha, Tedi Agastra, Ledio Toçi, Xhoel Mekolli, Aida Vokli, Ledjon Cenaj and other wanted persons are described as individuals who cooperated with one another, defrauding hundreds of foreign citizens and causing major economic damage.

In this decision, the Appeals Court finds that there was a network of call centers operating in Albania, organized through online marketing companies. According to the court’s description, some individuals are suspected of providing the technical infrastructure, others of administering the companies and premises, while the rest are suspected of receiving and transferring funds obtained from defrauding foreign nationals.

According to the court’s decision, Eduard Dalla is suspected of having been the person who provided and managed the technical infrastructure of the internet and VOIP connections for the call centers.

The suspicions against him are also supported by the fact that his phone number was found to have been used in internet contracts linked to the IPs identified by the Austrian authorities.

From wiretaps and verifications, the decision says, it also emerged that he communicated with internet companies about installations at different addresses and is suspected of serving as an intermediary for securing and distributing internet service to the premises where the call centers operated.

Mateo Hoxha and Tedi Agastra are suspected of being key figures in the financial fraud scheme.

Data from the Austrian authorities show that very large sums of money linked to investments made by the victims passed through their crypto addresses.

Specifically, Mateo Hoxha is suspected of having received more than USD 3.2 million, while Tedi Agastra more than USD 4.8 million. Prosecutors suspect that they are the ultimate beneficiaries of the cryptocurrencies linked to the fraudulent activity.

Ledio Toçi is also suspected of being a person directly connected to the premises and operations of the call centers.

According to the data, he had been employed at call center companies such as “Upstream Creative” and “Victory Communication,” while the apartment where one of the internet connections used in the fraud had been installed was found to have been rented by him and Aida Vokli.

Likewise, a phone number cited by the Austrian authorities was formally registered in his brother’s name, but was suspected of being used by Ledio Toçi.

Xhoel Mekolli is also suspected of being linked to the call center activity, as the IPs identified by partner authorities were also found to have been used by him, while technical analyses showed a high number of connections to those IPs.

Mekolli had also been employed by the entity “Espiron Studio” and was observed by police near the suspected premises during surveillance.