The refusal of Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj to appear before SPAK at 11:00 on Wednesday to be officially informed of the charges only delayed his indictment by 2 hours.
In a statement, Veliaj expressed his personal decision not to go to SPAK, and under these conditions, SPAK himself went to Durrës prison. At around 1:00 PM, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation, in the presence of lawyer Ermir Beta, contacted Veliaj in detention, where they informed him of the conclusion of the investigation and the filing of charges against him of “passive corruption of high-ranking officials and local elected officials”, “money laundering”, “hiding of non-declaration of assets” and “bringing prohibited items into prison”.
The latest charge relates to Veliaj's use of a prison officer's phone while he was being escorted from Durres detention center to the Special Court of Appeal for a security measure hearing. Earlier on Wednesday, SPAK indicted Veliaj's wife, Ajola Xoxa, on three criminal charges.
During meetings with BKH agents in prison and at SPAK, Veliaj and his wife were also informed that SPAK had extended the investigation deadline until September 24, setting this time limit for filing the case file in court. On the same day, SPAK charged businessman Mirton Lika with "concealment of income" and businessman Genti Sula with "corruption."
On account of the same investigation, on Monday, businessman Elman Abule was charged with "money laundering", while 4 other businessmen suspected of "corruption" are expected to arrive at SPAK in the future.
Erion Veliaj has been in prison since February 10th and has consistently denied any accusations or claims made by SPAK against him. (A2 Televizion)
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