TIRANA, April 17 – The US State Department has designated on of the wealthiest Albanian lawmakers, Tom Doshi, as the second public Albanian political figure, after former General Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla, to be banned from entering the United States.
The US State Department said in a statement it believes Doshi has been involved in major corruption cases in Albania.
Doshi gave a statement to local media immediately after the news broke out, saying he has not been notified and that he would seek clarifications concerning the decision.
“I am innocent, I pay taxes and I have not been involved in corrupt affairs,” he said, adding that his wife and children have Australian citizenship, and thus do not require a visa to enter the United States.
Based on the designation, however, a second citizenship does not matter for a banned US entry, immigration experts say.
Based on US law, when the Secretary of State has credible information a foreign official has engaged in corrupt affairs or breached human rights, they can ban the person and their immediate family from entering the US indefinitely.
The Secretary of State decides whether to notify the official publicly or privately.
According to a public statement Doshi, an ex Socialist Party lawmaker formerly close to Prime Minister Edi Rama, his two adult children and his minor children are no longer allowed to enter the US.
Doshi, one of Albania’s wealthiest men, ran under the Social-Democratic Party banner in the last election after being expelled by the SP in 2015 over a public debate with Prime Minister Edi Rama, but he is also widely believed to be part of a select group of business owners who became wealthy in the chaotic years of post-communist Albania amid allegations of involvement in criminal activities.
They became influential on both sides of the political spectrum, first as campaign financiers and later as members of parliament. Albania’s key international partners — the United States and the European Union — had raised concern for years over the trend.
