SPAK sends 8 defendants to trial over coastal property transfer scheme in Durrës

The Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime, SPAK, has sent for trial 8 people accused of a large-scale scheme involving the forgery and transfer of properties along the Durrës coastline.

According to SPAK, the defendants are suspected of acting as part of a structured criminal group that manipulated property ownership documents in order to obtain and then sell large areas of state-owned land in the areas of Shijak, Cape of Rodon, Lalëz, Bizë and Shetaj.

The investigation has revealed that Aleksandër Laho and Vullnet Muça are suspected of having been the masterminds and leaders of this scheme. According to the case file, it involved the forgery of Acts of Taking Land into Ownership (AMTP), unlawful registrations in the Durrës cadastre, and the subsequent transfer of the properties through sales to third parties.

The investigation found that employees and former employees of the cadastral administration were also involved in this mechanism, and are suspected of helping to insert and alter documents in the archive, as well as in the electronic property registration systems.

According to SPAK, Agron Bejdolli had an operational and coordinating role, following registration procedures and maintaining contacts with notaries and institutions. Meanwhile, lawyers Mikel Zaho and Artur Isaku are suspected of having carried out registrations and produced forged documents in the cadastre system.

Other defendants are accused of taking part in the sale of the properties, receiving financial benefits, and carrying out actions linked to forged documents.

According to the investigation’s description, this was a long-running scheme in which altered documents, historical archive registers and interference in property registration systems were used, with the aim of illegally transferring state property into private ownership.

SPAK said that at least 687,798 square meters of land in the coastal area of Durrës were transferred, with an estimated value of around 16.8 million euros.

In this case, the Special Court has also ordered the preventive seizure of several real estate properties linked to the investigation.

Meanwhile, the investigation is continuing to identify other possible accomplices and to verify other suspected episodes.

At the same time, SPAK has requested the partial dismissal of the case for one of those under investigation, in relation to several specific charges.

All defendants are presumed innocent until a final court decision is issued.