Albania freezes bank accounts of Albanian Airlines due to money-laundering investigation

TIRANA, June 27 – Albanian authorities have frozen about 3 million Euros in the bank accounts of the owner of the national carrier Albanian Airlines on suspicion of money laundering related to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Albania, in collaboration with Turkey and Spain, is investigating Turkish citizen Ali Evsen and some of his associates are being investigated. Evsen was arrested in Spain earlier this month, together with one of Mubarak’s close friends, Hussein Salem and his son Khaled. Last week Evsen had bail set at 18 million Euros. Salem, an ex-army and intelligence officer, was charged in Egypt last month along with Mubarak and the ex-president’s two sons. Their trial is scheduled for August 3. Salem is said to have won lucrative land and other deals, including exporting gas to Israel, as a result of his connections to Mubarak. In the meantime, Albanian Airlines continues to operate normally and had no immediate comment. Albanian Airlines, in which Evsen has owned 93 percent of the shares since 2009, flies to 12 destinations from Tirana International Airport.