From 2013 to 2018, 67% of the members of the government, including Rama, do not justify through their declarations the family income in at least one year of their career. That’s the conclusion of an investigation made by BIRN, which have analyzed the data through a dedicated team of investigative journalists and financial experts. While the inconsistency of the income is not automatically an illegal action, according to BIRN every inconsistency raises concerns and should be further addressed by the High Inspectorate of Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflict of Interest (ILDKPKI). Overall, the value of unjustified assets is 398,8 million ALL, or 83% of the total net assets of the cabinet.
The arithmetic-logical analysis of BIRN shows how much wealth is generated within a period of time, which is not justified by the financial resources declared officially by an individual. In addition, the members of the government cabinet reveals “a long series of ‘red flags’, including revenues from rents and businesses, shares in private companies, profits from the sale of real estate and vehicles, high liabilities towards construction companies, and borrowing,” says BIRN. From the list of ministers and former ministers analyzed, 18 of them have had problems with their statements.
While from 2014 to 2019, 1,726 public officials have been fined by ILDKPI for their statements or conflict of interest issues, no one of them was a member of Rama’s cabinet. ILDKPKI confirmed that “they had not found any violations in the controls carried out for the declaration of assets,” in the case of Rama’s cabinet.
According to BIRN, the total gross wealth of the 27 members of the government cabinet was 563,1 million ALL before taking office, while until 2018, this wealth has increased by 2.65 times, reaching a value of 1,49 billion ALL, for a total addition of 928,4 million ALL. The real estate occupies the largest value in assets for the members of the cabinet, with 745,4 million ALL, or 50% of the total, followed by bank liquidations with the value of 520 million ALL, or 34,9% of the total.
