File 5D, SPAK: There may be other public officials who may have benefited

The Special Prosecutor's Office has completed the investigations for file 5D, where it is stated that, "the defendant Redi Molla in the capacity of the former General Director of the company "Ujësjellas Kanalizime Tirana" sh.a, as well as the defendant Mariglen Qato in the capacity of the former Director of The Support Department in the company "Tirana Water and Sewerage" s.a. and the former Chief Inspector of the Territory Protection Inspectorate in the Municipality of Tirana, were the owners "de facto" of the company "5D Construction".

Meanwhile, in this SPAK announcement, it is emphasized that "it has been decided to separate and separate the acts in terms of the data and information collected during the investigations that there may be other public functionaries who may have indirectly owned the company" 5D Konstruksion" sh.pk or who may have had financial interests, for other persons who may have been used to obtain irregular benefits.

In the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime, preliminary investigations have been completed for criminal proceedings no. 75 dated 24.04.2023, registered for the criminal offenses "Active corruption against persons exercising public functions", carried out in cooperation, "Refusal to declare , non-declaration, concealment or false declaration of assets, private interests of elected persons and public servants or of any other person who has the legal obligation to declare", "Violation of the equality of participants in tenders and public auctions" carried out in cooperation, "Passive corruption of persons exercising public functions" carried out in cooperation, as well as "Cleaning of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity" carried out in collaboration, provided by articles 244, 257/a/2, 258/2 and 25, 259/2 and 287/2 of the Criminal Code.

From the investigative actions carried out for this criminal proceeding, the evidence has been collected and the fact has been proven that; the defendant Redi Molla in the capacity of the former General Director of the company "Ujësjellës Kanalizime Tirana" sh.a, as well as the defendant Mariglen Qato in the capacity of the former Director of the Support Department in the company "Ujësjellas Kanalizime Tirana" sh.a and the former Chief Inspector of The Inspectorate of Territory Protection in the Municipality of Tirana have been the "de facto" owners of the company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk The defendants have owned this company trading indirectly, using other persons, as fictitious partners in the acts of registration and operation of the company, with whom the real partners of the company had social and friendly relations.

First, the conducted investigations have proven the fact that in the period 2016-2020, during the time when the defendant, Redi Molla, exercised the function of the General Director of the company "Ujjesjellës Kanalizime Tirana" sh.a, the trading company "Igor Elektrik" sh. .pk the same as "VAS Konstruksion" sh.pk the same as "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk, participated and was declared the winner in violation of public procurement rules in 7 (seven) procurement procedures, carried out by the contracting authority "Ujjesjellës Kanalizime Tirana" sh.a.

In these procurement procedures, the defendant Redi Molla had the capacity of the holder of the contracting authority, he ordered the performance of the procurement, the composition of the Procurement Unit, the composition of the Bid Evaluation Commission (appointing in four cases as a member of this commission the defendant Marigle Qato, who is the other indirect partner of the company), signed the business contracts, performed any other action related to the capacity of the contracting authority holder, with the trading company in his possession.

Secondly, the fact has been proven that in the period 2016-2018, during the time when the defendant Mariglen Qato exercised the function of the Director of the Support Department in the company "Ujësjellës Kanalizime Tirana" sh.a., the above commercial entity participated and won in violation of public procurement rules in 4 (four) of the procurement procedures mentioned above. In these procurement procedures, the defendant Mariglen Qato had the capacity of a member of the Bid Evaluation Commission and took part in making the decision to announce the winner of the procurement procedure, for the commercial company indirectly owned by him.

Thirdly, from the investigative actions carried out, the fact has been proven that the commercial company "VAS Konstruksion" sh.pk, the same as "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk, participated and was declared the winner in violation of the public procurement rules, in 3 ( three) procurement procedures organized by the contracting authority, Tirana Municipality, as well as in 2 (two) other procurement procedures organized by the contracting authorities "Tirana Parking" sh.a and "Tirana Sports Club" s.a.

The investigations carried out have proven the fact that the defendant Taulant Tusha in the capacity of the General Director of the Public Works Planning Directorate and the member of the Bid Evaluation Commission, as well as the defendants Enton Punavija, Julian Zanaj and Albanon Janku in the capacity of member of the Bid Evaluation Commission, in the three procurement procedures organized by the Municipality of Tirana, have favored and created the company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk unfair advantages and privileges in relation to other economic operators who participated in the procurement procedures, declaring it the winner of the procurement procedure in an irregular manner and in violation of public procurement rules.

Fourthly, from the investigative actions carried out, from the analysis of the financial investigation and the expert report carried out by the accounting expert, the fact has been proven that in 12 (twelve) procurement procedures that have benefited from the company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk in violation of the law and the rules of public procurement, this commercial company has realized monetary benefits in total in the amount of ALL 192,779,188.

Based on Article 36/1, letter (b) of the Criminal Code, the above monetary amount is the product of the criminal offenses provided for by Articles 258 and 259 of the Criminal Code, as it constitutes "wealth" that flows and is acquired indirectly from committing criminal offences, benefiting the commercial company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk in an irregular manner from public contracts, as well as extracting monetary profits from implementation of these public contracts. 

The above monetary amounts that constitute the product of the criminal offense were partially withdrawn from the banking system using the fictitious invoice payment scheme and were then deposited again in the "cash" state in the company's coffers. Then these sums were given to the de facto owners of the commercial company, were used to finance the purchase of assets from them, or for other activities of the company. Whereas, the rest of the monetary amounts that constitute the proceeds of the criminal offense were used to finance the commercial activity of the company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk

Fifth, during the preliminary investigations, a complete financial and property investigation was carried out for the activity of the company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk, for the assets owned by the persons under investigation and their relatives, for the circulation of the monetary amounts benefited from realization of public contracts obtained in violation of the law and rules of public procurement.

With the decision no. 388, dated 05.07.2024 of the Special Court of the First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime, the asset insurance measure "Preventive Sequestration" has been established for the following assets:

1) The commercial company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk, together with the immovable and movable assets owned by it, as a legal entity that was used to commit criminal offenses and a commercial entity in which the proceeds of the criminal offense were reinvested. At the time of seizure, the value of the long-term assets of the commercial company was ALL 148,884,372.

2) Real estate in the possession of the defendants, Redi Molla, Mariglen Qato and their relatives, fully or partially financed by income from financing sources that constitute the proceeds of the criminal offense, with a total value of about ALL 107,989,000.

3) The trading company "Restur" sh.pk and 24% of the shares in the company "Mediterranean Investment Group" sh.pk, with the value of shares and payable rights, in total about 77,273,000 ALL, as assets with a value equivalent to the products of the criminal offense.

For other movable or immovable assets in the direct or indirect possession of the defendants and their relatives, for which there is evidence that they are not justified by income from legal sources, property reference no. 29 of 2024 was registered and asset verifications will continue to be carried out on the basis of law no. 10192 dated 03.12.2009 "On the prevention and suppression of organized crime, trafficking, corruption and other crimes, through preventive measures against wealth", amended.

On 24.12.2024, the Special Prosecutor's Office sent to the Special Court of First Instance for Corruption and Organized Crime in Tirana, the request for sending to trial criminal case no. 75 of 2023 against the defendants:

Redi Molla, accused of the criminal offenses "Passive corruption of persons exercising public functions", committed 7 (seven) times, 4 (four) times committed in cooperation, "Refusal to declare, non-declaration, concealment or false declaration of assets, private interests of elected persons and public servants or any other person who has the legal obligation to declare", carried out 5 (five) times, provided by articles 259 and 25 (according to the content of this provision before the changes made by law no. 43/2021, dated 23.03.2021) and 257/a/2 of the Criminal Code, as well as "Cleaning of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity", provided by article 287, letters (a), (b), (d), carried out in the qualifying circumstance "in cooperation" according to article 287, paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code.
Mariglen Qato, accused of the criminal offenses "Passive corruption of persons exercising public functions", committed 4 (four) times, committed in collaboration, "Refusal to declare, non-declaration, concealment or false declaration of assets, private interests of elected persons and public servants or any other person who has the legal obligation to declare", provided by articles 259 and 25 (according to the content of this provision before the amendments carried out by law no. 43/2021, dated 23.03.2021) and 257/a/2 of the Criminal Code, as well as "Cleaning of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity", provided by article 287, letters (a), (b), (d), committed in the qualifying circumstance "in collaboration" according to Article 287, paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code.
Taulant Tusha, accused of the criminal offenses "Violation of the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", committed in cooperation, provided by articles 258 and 25 of the Criminal Code (according to the content of this provision before the changes made by law no. 43/2021, dated 23.03.2021) and "Violation of the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", carried out twice, and carried out in cooperation, provided by articles 258/2 and 25 of the Criminal Code.
Enton Punavija, accused of the criminal offenses "Violation of the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", committed in collaboration, provided by articles 258 and 25 of the Criminal Code (according to the content of this provision before the changes made by law no. 43/2021, dated 23.03.2021) and "Violation of the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", carried out twice, and carried out in cooperation, provided by articles 258/2 and 25 of the Criminal Code.
Julian Zanaj, accused of the criminal offenses "Violation of the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", committed twice, committed in cooperation, provided by articles 258/2 and 25 of the Criminal Code.
Albano Janku, accused of the criminal offenses "Violation of the equality of participants in public tenders or auctions", committed in cooperation, provided by articles 258 and 25 of the Criminal Code (according to the content of this provision before the changes made by law no. 43/2021, dated 23.03.2021).
Nestor Muhametllari, accused of the criminal offense "Active corruption against persons exercising public functions", committed 2 (two) times, committed in collaboration, provided by articles 244 and 25 of the Criminal Code (according to the content of this provision before the changes carried out by law no. 43/2021), as well as "Cleaning of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity", provided by article 287, letter (a), (b), (d), committed in the qualifying circumstance "in collaboration" according to Article 287, paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code.
The commercial company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk, accused of the criminal offenses "Active corruption against persons exercising public functions", committed 2 (two) times, committed in cooperation, provided by articles 244 and 25 of the Criminal Code ( according to the content of this provision before the changes carried out by law no. 43/2021), as well as "Cleaning of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity", provided by article 287, letters (a), (b), (d), committed in the qualifying circumstance "in cooperation" according to article 287, paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code.
With the decision of the prosecutor dated 02.12.2024, it was decided to divide the criminal case and separate the acts in relation to some episodes, other claims raised by the complainant, as well as in relation to some new circumstances that have emerged from the investigative actions carried out , for which it is necessary to carry out other investigative actions. Specifically:

Firstly, the division and separation of acts for the procurement procedure with the object "Reconstruction of the Wrestling Gym" of the contracting authority "Tirana Sport Club", as well as the procedure with the object "Reconstruction of the parking lot at Selman Stermasi", of the contracting authority Tirana Parking. For these two procurement procedures, actions are being taken to complete the investigations and send the criminal case for trial.

Secondly, it has been decided to separate and separate the acts in terms of the circumstances and facts related to 11 other procurement procedures with contracting authority Tirana Municipality and other dependent structures, for the circumstances and facts related to some other procurement procedures from other public authorities, for the new circumstances and facts discovered by the investigative actions from the examination of the data of the seized computer units and mobile phone devices, for the claims, new information and data filed by the complainant during the preliminary investigation phase.

Thirdly, it has been decided to separate and separate the acts in terms of the data and information collected during the investigations that there may be other public officials who may have indirectly owned the company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk or who may have had financial interests, to other persons who may have been used to obtain irregular benefits, to episodes and facts related to the issuance of fictitious sales invoices and declarations of expenses and fictitious purchases from the company "5D Konstruksion" sh.pk

In relation to these episodes, criminal proceedings no. 75/1 dated 02.12.2024 were registered and further investigative actions are being carried out. (A2 Televizion)