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They were investigated in 2019 for a massive tax evasion scheme, as oligarchs won tenders worth tens of millions of euros

Politiko 2025-01-15 22:24:40

They were investigated in 2019 for a massive tax evasion scheme, as oligarchs

In the last 3 years, the Tax Directorate has referred over 200 tax evasion reports to the Tirana Prosecutor's Office. It turns out that about 1/3 of them have been brought to trial.

Law enforcement authorities have announced with great fanfare many cases of the discovery of fraudulent VAT schemes by numerous businessmen, worth millions of euros in damage to the state. However, a large part of these files are closed at the doors of justice. Those who are arrested with great fanfare collect millions of euros from the state treasury, often in dubious procurements. In these cases, oligarchs, the judiciary and high-ranking officials come together to extort the state treasury.

To understand this, let's go back in time to focus on specific files. In September 2019, the Tirana Prosecutor's Office announced with great fanfare the arrest of 15 businessmen for a rampant VAT fraud scheme that caused the state 1.8 billion lek in damage. Among those arrested were big business names such as Paqsor Buzi, shareholder of the GPG company, Shpresa Joanidhi of "Shpresa SHPK", Vasil Korita of the entity 'Medi Farma', Haxhi and Astrit Sala of "Leksi Security", Mhill Ndreca, Fatmir Miri, Vangjush Mbriçe, etc. names that you see on the screen. This file, opened with great fanfare, faded very quickly. On appeal, all the businessmen were released after their arrest was considered illegal. Only 1 year later, the prosecution is requesting the dismissal of the file against the owner of GPG, one of the entities with the main benefits in the reconstruction funds worth tens of millions of euros. The prosecution itself withdrew its charges.

If we refer to the data extracted from the treasury by Open Data, this entity has collected from the budget a full 13.3 billion lek in the period 2019-2024. So, after the investigation of the prosecution. It should be noted that the criminal investigation against the entity was discontinued, but what is striking is the fact that in cases of such investigations, these entities are excluded from public procurement. So, if justice amnesties, it seems that even officials of tendering institutions are not left behind.

'What is the corruption that informality breeds? Cooperation between operators and Law Enforcement Agencies and people within them to share that part of Fiscal Evasion among them. Corruption returns in the case of state officials and on the other hand, a dizzying benefit returns for economic operators who operate in informal or semi-informal conditions who do not expect an invoice for every transaction they carry out,' said the deputy, Erion Braçe.

The same situation with the owner of the entity Shpresa SHPK, part of the scheme investigated for evasion. After the investigation, this entity turns out to be the beneficiary of tenders worth tens of millions of euros from state institutions. Throughout 2019, the entity has collected from the treasury a full 376 million lek, or 3.7 million euros. A large part of the collections are during October, that is, 1 month after the arrests of that year. After the action, the company was changed its name to DION-AL. Until 2024, this entity with the new name has collected from the state budget a full 3.6 billion lek, or about 36 million euros in 980 transactions. Perhaps, criminally in these cases there are no charges as long as justice has dismissed the cases, but the state cannot entrust tenders worth tens of millions of euros to companies investigated for evasion that it itself has referred to the procurement. It is quite interesting how companies investigated for tax evasion are so successful in tenders and leave behind unsung subjects.

The same situation applies to the entity 'Leksi Security' owned by Haxhi and Astrit Sala. By 2022, according to Open Data, this entity, which was investigated several years ago, had collected over 37 million lek from the state budget.

The KOMBEAS entity, investigated as part of the evasion scheme, has collected a full 420 million lek or about 4.2 million euros in the period 2019-2024. So, the company owned by citizen Mhill Ndreca has also excelled in business after being investigated for evasion.

The other entity investigated in 2019, 'Arb Trans', owned at the time by Fatmir Miri, has benefited from tenders worth millions of euros. In the period 2019-2024, the company has collected a total of 950 million lek, or about 9.5 million euros, in 91 transactions from the treasury. It is noteworthy that after the criminal case of 2019, Miri donated the shares to citizen Shyqyi Maloku through a contract of 2021.

CEC Group, with shareholder Vangjush Mbrice, has benefited from tenders worth 250 million lek or about 2.5 million euros in the period 2019-2024. So, all the subjects of a massive abuse scheme have increased their profits by millions of euros from public money. Inside Story

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