TIRANA, Dec. 5 – Albanian prosecutors are looking into the main opposition Democratic Party’s lobbying efforts in the United States, with prosecutors requesting that the party and the Central Elections Commission provide them with documentation and financial reports on the electoral campaign, local media reported.
Prosecutors say no penal process is underway, and that no action or individual is being criminally investigated yet.
The case involves a lobbying contract by the opposition party with a U.S. lobbying firm, with a value that different sources report differently, ranging from half to one million dollars.
However, the ruling Socialist Party said that it will officially ask prosecutors to file criminal charges against Lulzim Basha, the opposition leader.
“It’s time for you to come out and explain where you found $1 million to pay for articles that badmouth Albania? Sources inform that this is money administered by a person close to Basha. The fund was created on an offshore island to hide the tracks that lead to Basha. This is the most obvious scheme of money laundering. On Monday we will issue a penal report of Lulzim Basha concerning this fraud scene,” said Taulant Balla, head of the SP’s parliament group.
Basha personally replied to the SP’s accusations by saying they are nothing but an attempt to mask the real scandal where former minister, Saimir Tahiri, is allegedly involved, and Basha invited the SP to not waste time and send the report to the prosecution as soon as possible.
“Accusations for money laundering from the DP are only a distraction to escape other truths concerning you, Saimir Tahiri, the brother of Fatmir Xhafa. The DP has declared every income to the Central Election Committee. The Democratic Party has nothing to hide. The only person who hides money is you, Edi Rama. You are the one who should be under money laundering accusations. Don’t wait for Sunday. Deliver the documents to the prosecution today,” Basha said.
For more than a week now, the SP has been accusing the opposition of using shady funds to lobby internationally.
