The head of SPAK (Special Prosecutor’s Office), Altin Dumani, presented the work report of the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the year 2023 to the parliament this Monday.

Duman focused extensively on the corruption of public officials, where he said that in 2023, many cases of abuse of public funds were identified.

The head of SPAK said that procedures are used that legalize the appropriation of public funds, which are then used by legal entities, which often change shareholders and trade names.

“Regarding the criminal offense of corruption, the criminal investigations of 2023 show that corruption includes actions that appear to be legal but have as their purpose illegal gain. Procedures are used that legalize the gain from public funds by disguising the criminal nature. This happens often and in an organized manner, including the use of legal entities that benefit from public funds that often change shareholders or trade names,” said Dumani.

As for money laundering, the head of SPAK said that the phenomenon is widespread mainly in Tirana and tourist areas, where illegal money is invested in movable and immovable property.

“I present to you some information regarding the laundering of money from organized crime. Investments in movable and immovable properties remain the main way of laundering money in Albania.
Especially in apartments, buildings and service units in Tirana, but also tourist areas, such as Vlora Durrës and Lezha. Also, a significant amount of money is suspected to be deposited in bank accounts in the names of commercial companies or in the names of relatives of suspected persons.

We also had a case where foreign criminal organizations tried to launder money in Albania through sophisticated schemes. But the scheme was discovered and a significant amount of money was seized,” Dumani said.

Dumani also added that “the corruption of justice officials has been evidenced in Durrës, Shkodër, Tirana, Laç and Fushë-Krujë”.