TIRANA, July 19 – Former Minister of Social Welfare Spiro Ksera could be sentenced to three years in prison on embezzlement charges, prosecutors say. Ksera, a member of the Greek minority, was arrested late January, on charges of having appropriated money during the time he was Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities, a post he held between 2009 and 2013 during the previous Democratic Party-led government.
Prosecutors argued in court that Ksera’s schemes caused 30 million lek (Euro 215,000) in budget losses, calling on judges to declare the former minister guilty. They also called for 1.5 years prison terms for each of the five other officials arrested for being involved in Ksera’s schemes.
The probe against Ksera began when the Supreme State Audit did not find documents to prove the alleged implementation of six social programs by the Ministry in 2013, when Ksera was the head of the procurement body. Prosecutors inspected several DVDs and footage of the alleged activities and noted that pictures and videos were different from other activities held on April 2013 for International Roma Day. “These activities were supported and financed by UNDP [United Nations Development Project] Albania and not the ministry of labour,” the prosecution said in a statement. According to prosecutors, Ksera’s subordinates digitally altered pictures of other activities for socially vulnerable people to look like the labour ministry’s own activities. Prosecutors also found out that the ministry could not produce the receipts to prove claimed expenses. The former minister could get a shorter sentence if he pleads guilty.
