Eight former tax officials probed for abuse of power

TIRANA, Oct. 23 – Customs and taxation authorities have sent names of eight former top officials to be investigated by the prosecutor’s office in Tirana on abuse of power suspicions.
They are being accused of illegal actions during June-October period this year in reimbursing VAT to suspicions companies in at least 11 cases. They are accused of misappropriation of public funding.
The finance ministry said they are accused of a theft of half a billion leks, or about $5 million.
The names include former Tirana tax department head and other senior officials in the capital’s department.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Shkelqim Cani said that VAT reimbursements were made this summer, after the June 23 parliamentary elections, to many companies considered to be close to the previous Democratic Party-led government and also to some Chinese companies that seemed to have been registered nowhere.
The new Socialist-led government is redrafting the annual budget until the end this year and complaining that it was left moneyless from the previous government.
They have pledged to first pay back hundreds of unpaid bills to private companies. They have hired the international company Deloitte to audit such a debt until the end of November. They say that following those government officials will also check and verify the work done by these companies for which they claim unpaid money from the public budget.