The Court of Appeal with General Jurisdiction in Tirana has sentenced businessman Francesco Becchetti to 12 years in prison, reducing his sentence by 5 years from the First Instance Court’s decision, applying Article 55 which provides for the merging of sentences.

The panel of Appeal judges—Genti Shala, Brikena Ukperaj, and Dritan Hasani—partially altered the initial ruling for part of the sentence.

The Court of Appeal also reduced the sentence of Mauro De Renzis, Becchetti’s associate, from 16 years in the First Instance Court to 12 years in prison.

Becchetti’s lawyers had appealed after the First Instance Court sentenced the Italian businessman to 17 years in prison, under accusations that through his companies he had created a scheme of VAT fraud and money laundering.

Becchetti was charged with four criminal offenses: “Theft through abuse of office,” “Laundering the proceeds of crime or criminal activity,” “Forgery of documents,” and “Creation of fraudulent schemes related to value-added tax.”