TIRANA, July 29 – Adrian Fullani, the former governor of the Bank of Albania, is to face abuse of office charges in a trial to open soon, prosecutors said this week.
Fullani is facing trial for not doing enough to prevent about $7 million in cash from the central bank’s treasury. He also faces charges for irregularities in the bank’s purchase of a historic building in downtown Tirana, formerly known as Hotel Dajti.
The Bank of Albania was shaken up after it found its treasury was missing about ALL713 million in cash a year ago. Fullani was arrested several week later, leading to his sacking by parliament.
Fullani has been freed by the courts awaiting his trial.
Prosecutors said in a statement that Fullani had abused his office by not appointing a deputy governor and not using powers that could have prevented the theft.
His inaction “created the conditions that led to the lapse in security in the administration of the Bank of Albania,” prosecutors said.
The former governor will join a list of about 20 other former central bank employees to face charges in the theft case. A couple have already been convicted,
In May, a Tirana court sentenced Ardian Bitraj to 20 years in prison for the theft of about $7 million in cash from the Bank of Albania, where he was a former employee. Another central bank former employee, Mimoza Bruzia, received ten years.
Because Bitraj accepted a plea bargain to speed up the trial, he is expected to serve a little more than 13 years.
He had admitted to have taken the money to feed his gambling addiction.
Fullani’s investigation also includes the unusual purchase by the central bank of the state-owned former Hotel Dajti building in 2010 for about $32 million, a transaction that injected some cash into government coffers in an indirect manner.
Prosecutors say the completed investigation file will be submitted to a Tirana court by the end of the week. No date has been set for the trial yet.
