Press Release

Durrës Prosecution Office has concluded its investigations and has taken five persons to court. Among them are the former director of State Cadastre Agency (SCA) in Kavaja, along with the institution's engineer and legal expert, identified as D.K. and S.C., as well as the individuals who illicitly gained property through forged documents. They face charges of 'Falsification of documents' and 'Abuse of office'. 

The investigations into criminal case No. 483, initiated on October 21, 2021, uncovered persuasive evidence proving that employees of SCA Kavajë—namely, the cartographer Engineer D.K. and registrar S.C. are involved in the falsification of documents and property maps. They illicitly issued a property ownership certificate to the father of citizens I.T. and Q.T. on May 23, 2016, fraudulently altering the property's classification from a 1900 m2 olive plantation to an uncultivated land of the year 1991, evidently for personal benefit.

The investigations have substantiated that S.C., formerly the registrar at Kavaja SCA, has committed the criminal offense of "Abuse of Office" under Article 248 of the Criminal Code. In his role as chief registrar, has illicitly registered the property, violating various laws including Law No. 33/2021 (amended by Law No. 9/2016, dated February 11, 2016, “On  immovable property registration), specifically breaching Article 20, point "C"; Article 25, on “Manner of first registration”; Article 29, point "1"; Regulation No. 184/1999 on Manner of first registration; and Law No. 171/2014 On Concluding the Legal Procedures on the Transfer of Agricultural Land of Former-Agricultural Undertakings to the Ownership of Beneficiaries”, particularly infringing upon Article 3 “on the criteria for issuing land ownership certificates”.

Further investigations have revealed that D.K., tasked with the verification of the property’s location acquired through the Agricultural Market Transition Program (AMTP), has committed the criminal offence of document forgery. The map issued by him does not align with the AMTP requirements.
Map verification showed that this document does not meet the criteria to be considered an official document and fails to accurately depict the property's location. This document is a sketch from the land distribution commission in 1991, which is irrelevant to the current property. Furthermore, Kavaja SCA failed to submit the survey plan.