TIRANA, Oct. 27, 2022 – An investigation by Albanian and Italian authorities has led to the busting of a Tirana-based organization that conducted financial sales through telephone calls, deceiving citizens of various European countries, mainly Italy.
The operation came after a joint investigation of Albania’s Special Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime and Corruption (SPAK) and Italian authorities.
Enticing people with promises of a quick return on investment, the organization, according to the data so far, was able to suck in millions of euros from its victims. At least two of the alleged leaders of this activity have been arrested, while a third person has been declared wanted, officials said at a press conference.
The activity is suspected to have gone on since 2019. A denunciation by an Italian citizen in the area of Pordenone, in the north of Italy, set the authorities of that country in motion, revealing “a quite complex fraud scheme according to which the victims were contacted by telephone, where they were convinced by the fraudsters to initially invest small amounts that would then grow much bigger,” the official said.
“Some of the victims saw fake data on how their investments tripled in just a few days, seeing their profits through several online platforms created by the criminal group in order to make the investment seem more reliable”, Albanian prosecutor Ened Nakuci said at the press conference.
There are several hundred Italian citizens who have been victims of the scheme set up by the organization which had registered its activity with Albanian authorities as a services call center.
“From the first investigations, there are 212 defrauded Italians, with a significant amount lost. After the checks carried out yesterday, we think that the number of affected people may reach up to 1,200,” said Director of the Prosecution of Pordenone Raffaele Tito.
The original proposal was about investing in buying shares in Amazon for 250 euros with a profit realized within a week.
They then pushed customers to invest in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, through current accounts in some of the European Union countries.
From the investigations so far, the accused fraudsters made at least 3 million euros, but according to the prosecutors, that figure can only represent the tip of the iceberg.
“We do not think we will be able to recover any amount. The mechanism of Bitcoin makes us understand that it will be very difficult to seize the money,” said Tito, the Italian prosecutor.
Thanks to the investigation of Italian experts, who intercepted more than 42,000 phone calls between call center operators and various citizens in Italy, it was possible to discover the location of the group in Tirana, and to identify those who, according to the prosecution, can be considered as the key characters in the scheme, in the roles of administrator and most trusted consultants.
Prosecutors said Albanian citizens Gilbert Pushani and Elisa Caci were arrested, while Valbona Abedinaj is now wanted by police.
According to the prosecutor’s office, recently, the group was being restructured and expanded, changing the location of the criminal activity.
