The Investigative Commission of Health will question former minister Ilir Beqaj tomorrow

The Investigative Commission for Health will continue tomorrow (November 12) with the questioning of witnesses to clarify the issue of the sterilization concession.

So, it is learned that tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. the testimony of former Minister of Health Ilir Beqaj, who is currently in prison for abusing EU funds in SASPAC, is expected.

What happened?

We remind you that SPAK has filed charges against Beqaja for "Passive corruption of high state officials", "Refusal to declare, non-declaration, concealment or false declaration of assets, private interests of elected persons and public servants or any other person who has the legal obligation to declare" "Fraud" as well as "Violation of the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions".

SPAK says that it has found evidence that Ilir Beqaj as head of SASPAC, in collaboration with Ermal Kurtulajn, whom he himself appointed, ordered fictitious prosecution procedures, worth hundreds of thousands of euros, to various companies for incomplete services and the final beneficiary was precisely the former minister himself through the Gzona Restaurant in Tirana, which SPAK says is owned by him. Among the 8 fictitious procurements discovered, SPAK identifies exactly one related to "Landëays International".

SASPAC gave €125,000 to the company of businessman Gazmend Haxhia for the organization of a tourism conference "Festa". But for the same event, the Ministry of Tourism paid 38.5 million new ALL. So, in total, for the same activity, two state institutions paid more than €500,000, while in the end, the only expense recorded was that of a dinner provided by "Gzona" worth about €41,000.

What happened today?

Today the businessman Ilir Rrapaj arrived at the Presidency of the Assembly, handcuffed and accompanied by the police, he gave his testimony. 

He stated that he met Klodian Rrjepaj and Ilir Beqaj in an activity of the Albanian government in 2013.

After 6 hours of Rrapaj's testimony, Minister Anila Denaj also testified before the investigative commission on concessions. She held the position of director of the Mandatory Health Care Insurance Fund and it is known that she did not agree on the high prices of sterilization as she filed a complaint.

The 10-year concession worth nearly 100 million dollars was granted to the company 'SaniService', a merger of companies where Ilir Rrapaj with his company 'Investital LLC' is the main owner of the shares, alongside the Italian companies "Servizi Italia", "Tecnosanimed" and "U .Jet Srl” of Staccini.

Rrapaj has been under arrest since August 16, 2024, while the former Deputy Minister of Health Klodian Rjepaj is also under arrest.

Earlier, the head of the commission, Albana Vokshi, announced at the meeting that the 3 Italian businessmen Umbro Staçini, Elisabetta Anzanello and Giorgio Tardioli, called to testify, have refused to appear and give their testimony.