Klea Rama, the fictional granddaughter of the Prime Minister/ The fraud scheme is unraveled

Last week we talked to you about a computer fraud genius, 20-year-old Ermes Hoxhalli, who through the fictional character he had created, named Klea Rama, managed to bring the education system in Albania into play. He devised a project, supposedly in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy, to provide Albanian students with educational opportunities in the U.S.

To get approval from the Ministry of Education, Hermes had a brilliant idea. Hidden under the fake name "Klea Rama" and under the image of American model Gracie Abrams, he was removed as if he were the granddaughter of Prime Minister Edi Rama. That's all it took for the Ministry of Education to open its doors and engage schools from north to south to realize this important project. It all started from this email, which Klea Rama sent on September 15, 2023 to the former Deputy Minister, Nina Guga:

"We ask that high school graduates of all Albanian public education schools fill out the document for expression of interest in the project 'Let's talk together about US'2024'. The project aims to inform about studies in the United States, supported by the US Department of State. We now ask for your permission to start talks with the Local Education Offices and then with the school principals. I hope to have a positive response as soon as possible, as I am a little late with the procedures."

The imaginary Klea had it in a hurry. The project was serious and had to be approved. Under normal conditions, the ministry of education would do the verifications of the case, but when it came to the granddaughter of the boss, things had to be done with the drop of a pencil.

However, to avoid any kind of hesitation on the part of the deputy minister, the day before sending the email, Ermesi, posing as Klea, had contacted her privately on whatsapp. According to the statement that Mrs. Guga gave to the prosecutor's office, Ermesi, in addition to talking to her about the project, had also sent her a photo of herself... for models. And to be sure that Deputy Prime Minister The minister would not do any verification of the photo, Ermes sent it to her using the "view once" option. In this way, Mrs. Guga would find it difficult to preserve it.

However, the effect was immediate, so that 3 days after these communications, the project would be approved and delegated for implementation to the General Directorate of Education, which sent a letter to a large number of high schools throughout the country, ordering them to coordinate with Klea Rama for informing high school graduates.

From this project, which was extended to high schools in Albania, unfortunately, hundreds of students and teachers were deceived. To make the scheme as credible as possible, Hoxhalli took care of the details, unveiling all his creativity. Initially, he bought a number with an American prefix. He then opened a fake address with his stage name, where he posted photos of the prime minister. After building this fake profile, the young man also opened a web page, where he describes what this project stands for and where he displayed emails, the structure of the project commission and the list of universities where students could apply for training.

On this page, the so-called Klea Rama had also built this regulation, the program, the draws that would be drawn and the dates of the exams. Then it would be the turn of this form, which was the icing on the cake of this imaginary project. According to Rama's imaginary granddaughter, the form came from the White House and had to be filled out by the participating students.

While what you will hear now, it may seem ridiculous, but it is really painful and offensive for the educational bodies of the participating schools, because the young man challenged the teachers, who became part of a vote for the selection of coordinators in each school participating in this project. He also built the cabinet, where he chose the English teacher of the "Qemal Stafa" gymnasium in Tirana, Valentina Lamaj, as general director.

And after Ermesi paved his way of cooperation by deceiving the teachers and high school graduates of half of Albania... The work for the realization of the project has begun. And what to see!
Students who studied hard dreaming of studying across the ocean, teachers who worked overtime for coordination, directors and deputy ministers who went public greeting Klea Rama. A stage that continued for a year with activities, speeches, greetings, and obviously hugs from afar for Klea Rama, the beautiful granddaughter of the prime minister.

It is clear that Hermes was obsessed with not only ridiculing but also annoying the top leaders of the education system in the country. Teacher Valentina emphasizes that even though she was the director of the project, the decisions were made by Klea Rama herself, the lists were ready, even though her name was written down and her signature was placed, which she had sent to her scanned. As for the seals, they were also worn by Klea.

But how did the collapse of the entire scheme built with such skill and care by the 20-year-old begin? The suspicions that something was wrong came after Klea raised the bar of ridicule, asking the director of the "Ali Demi" high school in Vlora, to neglect the learning process to carry out one of the phases of the project. She even put pressure on the coordinating teacher of this school.

Under these conditions, the principal was forced to take a personal interest at the American Embassy, and there, he realized that all these sacrifices that he and his colleagues had made for their students, had been simply frauds. As soon as the representative of the American embassy Amanda Roberson, involved in the project of the imaginary granddaughter, stated that the signature on these certificates was not hers, the materials were sent for expertise...

Meanwhile, on March 6, 2024, after the American Embassy was informed by the official in question about the forgery of documents, the prosecution starts investigations, which would also bring the end of Klea Rama. The Sector for the Investigation of Computer Interventions, through the orders of addresses that circulated in the ministries and in the educational offices opened with the credentials of the fictional girl, follows in the footsteps of Ermes. He was summoned to the prosecutor's office on July 1, 2024, as a person who has knowledge of the circumstances of the investigation... and there, he tried to deceive again.

In his statement, he said that he knew Klea Rama through Instagram and had spoken to him after he had come up with the suggestion. After a series of messages she had invited him to become part of the LTTAUS project, but he had rejected her as he was busy with the exams, but claims to have helped him to make some posters and videos for the project, after many of her requests. Among other things, she had also expressed the fact that she was the relative of the prime minister.

An exquisite fiction that would continue and continue in front of the scrutinizing eyes of the computer investigation agents, who knew that he was the protagonist of the fraud. However, they continued to listen quietly to Hermes' interesting account.

According to him, Klea's demands kept coming and increasing. After the posters and videos, she also needed the logo of the state department and the logo of the seal of the Council of Ministers. And after sending him these, which he had found online, he had asked his virtual friend why he needed all these materials and how the truth was, but she had only answered with one: thanks.

When asked by the prosecution why there were also photos of the American singer Gracie Abrams on his phone, he justified that after finding out that Klea Rama uses her photos, he had downloaded them and advised his friend to update her profile with new photos.

Immediately after these not at all credible statements, the prosecution would seize Ermes's two phones, in which it found a real treasure. Forged documents such as: certificates, letter from the White House, application form, list of students, speeches, paper templates, school list, project regulations, tests, minutes, White House logo, State Department logo, Interpol seal logo, activity photos, transcripts, modified photos with Edi Rama, modified text messages with Mimi Kodheli and the Prime Minister's young son.

At the end of July 2024, he would be arrested for forgery of documents and computer fraud, and since that day he has been in prison. It should be noted that despite the brilliant mind he may have, the latter has played with the dream of hundreds of students and the effort of dozens of teachers. All this is the fault of Mrs. Nina Guga, who took the action of developing the project only because of a single sentence: I am Edi Rama's granddaughter./ Piranhas