Press Release

Tirana Prosecution Office closely cooperating with the Tax Investigation Directorate and the Tirana Local Police Directorate, regarding the Criminal Procedure No. 1695 of 2024, has successfully concluded the "Fraud" codenamed operation after months of employing specialized investigation techniques, thus enabling the execution of Tirana District Court, Criminal Chamber’s decision that imposed security measures against four citizens:

Citizen S.M. has been placed under “Remand in custody”; and Citizens Z.R., E.S., and P.K. are subject to an “Duty to appear before the judicial police”.
Upon analyzing the evidence gathered, it comes out that three trading entities were established to facilitate imports for various traders, allowing the later to procure goods without invoices. These entities, now under investigation, operated as 'phantom companies,' providing a concealment for individuals (traders) to enjoy income without reporting actual sales, thereby evading tax obligations and causing the state damages totaling 53,000,000 lek.

The investigations uncovered that these entities engaged in importing various goods, which were then resold either by the involved parties or without their knowledge.
Citizen S.M. utilized the personal information of Z.R., E.S., and P.K., registering these entities and conducting all transactions on their behalf. These individuals have violated laws concerning “Creation of fraudulent schemes regarding value added tax”, “Concealment of income” and “Failure to report a crime” as stipulated in articles 144/a, 180, and 300 of the Criminal Code.
Moreover, it is suspected that this fraudulent scheme involves additional individuals, entities, accounting firms, and government officials. Investigations and procedural actions are ongoing to document all instances of criminal activity.