
Who is Thanas Bako, the Albanian boss who laundered traffickers' money
A joint operation by Europol, the Dutch police and the Greek police made it possible to arrest Thanas Bako, 52 years old, from Saranda, resident of Athens, who is considered the "financial brain" of the mafia in Greece.
"A well-known money launderer, who cleaned the dirty money of the biggest criminals in the world, was arrested on May 31 in Athens, Greece. His arrest comes after a long investigation by the Dutch Police (Police) into the activities of this secretive banker operating in the Netherlands. The man allegedly ran a criminal organization that laundered millions of euros on a monthly basis for criminals ," Europol said in a statement.
This arrest was supported in the framework of the Operational Task Force "TOKEN" set up at Europol to target the networks that facilitate underground banking around the world.
The criminal organization trafficked on a daily basis, through an "underground" banking system using coded communications, large sums of money and it is estimated that for a period of about 10 months, sums of the order of 250 million euros were trafficked.
During the search carried out in the apartment of the arrested person, sums of money in banknotes originating from different countries were found and seized, including euros, US dollars, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Swiss francs, Turkish liras, United Emirates dirhams. South African Arab Rand. Also confiscated were mobile phones, including a mobile phone used for encrypted conversations through special applications, a tablet, a digital disk and SIM cards.
Europol considers it one of the "big fish" of money laundering
Thanas Thoma Bako alias Athanasios Sebastian Bako is considered by Europol to be one of the "big fishes" of laundering money derived from international drug trafficking. But in his hometown he turns out to be one of many immigrants who have not been seen coming or seen in public for years, although contacts with the underworld may still have them active.
The profile of the 52-year-old is not unknown to the local police. In the late 90s and early 2000s, he was considered a character with strong connections in Saranda with international drug traffickers, mainly marijuana, from Albania to Greece. However, he has a clean criminal record in Albania.
Në vitin 1998 gjithsesi ai rezulton të jetë ndodhur në Kanada, ku rezulton bashkëaksioner me shtetasin Th. P nga Saranda, në kompaninë e investimeve “Quebec Inc.” e cila aktivitetin e saj e ka deri ne vitin 2012. Bako më pas ka zhvilluar aktivitetin e tij në Greqi, por mesa duket, pa i shkëputur kurrë lidhjet me botën e krimit. Vitet e fundit Bako rezulton të jetë pronar i 99 % të aksioneve në një kompani Real Estate në Greqi.
Në pronësi të kësaj kompanie rezulton apartamenti luksoz i tij në Glifadha ku edhe ku arrestua si dhe disa apartamente të blera në Dafni dhe Ilioupoli. Përmes kësaj kompanie, ai rezulton se kryente pastrim të parave të karteleve të drogës, kryesisht nga Holanda e Belgjika.
Ai rezulton se u jepte udhëzime korrierëve se ku t’i merrnin e çonin paratë dhe duke përfshirë dhe konvertimin në kriptovaluta, kryente pastrimin e tyre dhe transferimin në shtete off shore dhe kryesisht në Dubai. Autoritetet holandeze kanë mbërritur deri tek emri i Bakos pas shkatërrimit të disa grupeve kriminale, nga komunikimet e të cilave përmes aplikacioneve të enkriptuara, kanë zbuluar një emër të koduar i cili më pas rezultoi të ishte pikërisht sarandjoti 52-vjeçar.
Sipas hetimeve të deritanishme, ai rezulton të ketë qarkulluar rreth 250 milionë euro brenda 10 muajve, para të ardhura nga trafiku i drogës. Autoritetet holandeze kanë informuar homologët grekë, të cilët pasi e kanë ndjekur për 6 muaj Bakon, e kanë prangosur me qëllim ekstradimin në Holandë, edhe pse sipas burimeve do i nënshtrohet edhe një hetimi në Greqi pasi ka dyshime edhe për pastrim parash në këtë shtet.
Gjatë kontrollit të banesës së tij, policia greke gjeti dhe sekuestroi shuma parash në kartëmonedha me origjinë nga vende të ndryshme, mes të cilave euro, dollarë amerikanë, dollarë kanadezë, dollarë australianë, franga zvicerane, lira turke, Dirhemë të Emirateve të Bashkuara Arabe dhe Rand të Afrikës së Jugut si dhe dy ora luksoze. U sekuestruan edhe telefona celularë, përfshirë një celular që përdoret për biseda të koduara përmes aplikacioneve speciale, një tabletë, një disk dixhital dhe karta SIM, të cilat janë dërguar në Holandë për ekzaminim laboratorik pas miratimit të dhënë nga autoritetet gjyqësore.
Bako në Greqi profil të ulët, në TIMS rezulton pa pasaportë biometrike
52-year-old Thanas Bako appears to have moved from Albania to Greece for the last time, at least legally, in 2010 through a transit permit and through an old passport, in 2009. He does not appear to possess a passport biometric according to the TIMS system, while the suspicions are that he may have come to Albania later through the illegal crossing from the green border in the Konispoli area.
In Greece, he kept a low profile and rode around on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, even though his apartment in Glifadha was luxurious. His arrest by the Greek authorities was carried out on May 31 but was made public by two communiques of Europol and the Greek Police on June 6. He has no criminal record in Greece and Albania.
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