TIRANA, Oct. 31 – Fatmir Kajolli, a former Fier municipal councilor, has had his properties confiscated by a court order as he fights extradition to Italy.
Kajolli has been sentenced to 40 years imprisonment by an Italian court for drug trafficking and being a member of a criminal organization.
Kajolli had been held in prison as he fought extradition, but the court has moved him to house arrest, according to media reports.
The property confiscation came after a police investigation indicated the properties he and his family have could not be justified by their declared legal income.
Kajolli owns land, buildings and companies, some of which have been a source of dispute with others.
The grave crimes prosecutor’s office said this week had sequestered all his properties, some 2.1 million square meters of land and 1,700 square meters of buildings.
Prosecutors believe the properties were purchased through money laundry of illicit profits.
Kajolli’s arrest in April 2012 set a firestorm of debate in Albania over how a fugitive sentenced twice by Italian courts on drug-trafficking charges could have lived openly for a decade and build a public profile as a businessman, local politician and political insider.
Elected through the Republican Party and a member of the center-right coalition, Kajolli’s arrest 10 years after Italian authorities issued a warrant and his businessman-turned-politician status highlighted one of the first cases of people with shady backgrounds and Albanian politics.
Fier is one of Albania’s most populous municipalities, located 100 kilometers south of Tirana.
