The Durrës Prosecution Office has placed 12 people under investigation, including employees of the State Cadastre Agency (ASHK), suspected of document forgery, fraud, abuse of office and laundering of proceeds of crime. Following the request of the prosecution, the Court has imposed security measures ranging from "Prison Arrest", "House Arrest" and "Obligation to report to the judicial police" for the persons under investigation.

The investigation began in 2022, after problems were discovered during the inventory of mortgage registers at the Durrës Housing and Property Registry, where suspicions of falsification of documentation and illegal registration of properties were raised. According to the Prosecution, a mechanism for falsification and appropriation of assets has been uncovered in at least 6 cases in cadastral area 1574, in the area of ​​Kallmi and the former NB Frutore in Durrës, an area of ​​high interest due to its coastal location.

Investigations show that several people, in collaboration with employees of the Durrës Real Estate Agency, are suspected of having falsified property documents, entering them into the archive and then registering them in the real estate register with fictitious dates.

According to the indictment, in some cases the original registry sheets where the assets were listed with the status of "state" were removed and replaced with forged documents in the name of the persons under investigation. Subsequently, some of these properties were allegedly sold to third parties in order to lose track of the illegal profit. The court has imposed "Arrest in prison" for citizens with the initials R.Sh., AK, BZ and RZ, while for citizens Sh.Sh., VM, AM and B.Xh. the measure "House arrest" has been imposed. For citizens F.Xh., JM, LD and AC the security measure "Obligation to report to the judicial police" has been imposed.

NOTIFICATION OF THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
At the request of the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Durrës, the security measures 'Arrest in prison', 'House arrest' and 'Obligation to report to the judicial police' were imposed on 12 citizens under investigation for the criminal offense of 'Fraud', 'Abuse of office' and 'Laundering of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity' provided for by articles 143, 186, 248 and 287 of the Criminal Code.

The investigations into criminal proceedings no. 582 of 2022 began mainly after problems were found in the inventory of mortgage registers at the State Cadastral Agency (ASHK) in Durrës, creating suspicions of their falsification.

The proceeding body managed to prove the mechanism of falsification and appropriation of assets for the purpose of material gain in 6 cases in cadastral area 1574, located in Kallm and NB Frutore Durrës (coastal area).

The persons under investigation, citizens R.Sh, Sh..Sh, AM, VM, B.XH and F.Xh, through cooperation with employees of the Durrës ASHK, falsified documentation for the registration of assets in violation of legal provisions for the purpose of material gain. The falsified documents were entered into the archive of the former Durrës ASHK, receiving reference numbers in some cases duplicated, and were then entered into the real estate register, setting fictitious registration dates.

It also turns out that the original registry sheets were removed, from which the property with the cadastral entry "state" was replaced with forged sheets in the name of the persons under investigation, who then in some cases sold these properties to third parties in order to lose track.

It also results that employees of the Durrës ASHK registered the assets of citizens AK, BZ, RZ, JG, LD and AC with falsified documentation, in violation of legal provisions and without carrying out the relevant verifications specified in these provisions.

As above, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Durrës, it was decided:

1. Assigning the coercive personal security measure "Arrest in prison" to the citizen of the Republic of Albania, suspected of the criminal offenses of 'Fraud', 'Forgery of documents' and 'Laundering of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity';
2. Assigning the coercive personal security measure "Arrest in prison" to citizen AK, suspected of the criminal offenses 'Forgery of documents' and 'Abuse of office';
3. Assigning the coercive personal security measure “Arrest in prison” to citizen BZ, suspected of the criminal offenses of 'Forgery of documents' and 'Abuse of office';
4. Assigning the coercive personal security measure “Arrest in prison” to citizen RZ, suspected of the criminal offenses 'Forgery of documents' and 'Abuse of office';
5. Assigning the coercive personal security measure “House arrest” to citizen Sh.Sh. suspected of the criminal offenses of 'Fraud' and 'Forgery of documents';
6. Assigning the personal security measure 'House arrest' to citizen VM suspected of the criminal offenses of 'Fraud' and 'Forgery of documents';
7. Assigning the coercive personal security measure "House arrest" to citizen AM, suspected of the criminal offenses of 'Fraud' and 'Forgery of documents';
8. Assigning the coercive personal security measure "House arrest" to citizen B.XH suspected of the criminal offenses of 'Fraud' and 'Forgery of documents';
9. Assigning the coercive personal security measure “Obligation to report to the judicial police” to citizen F.XH., son, suspected of the criminal offenses of 'Fraud', 'Forgery of documents' and 'Laundering of the proceeds of a criminal offense or criminal activity';
10. Assigning the coercive personal security measure of “Obligation to report to the judicial police” to citizen JM, suspected of the criminal offense of 'Abuse of office';
11. Assigning the coercive personal security measure "Obligation to report to the judicial police" to citizen LD, suspected of the criminal offenses of 'Abuse of office'; and
12. Assignment of the coercive personal security measure "Obligation to report to the judicial police" for citizen AC, suspected of the criminal offense of 'Abuse of duty'.

At the request of the Prosecutor's Office at the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Durrës, preventive seizure was also imposed on the following assets:

-Property No. 276/1 Durrës with an area of ​​27.550 m2;
-Property No. 147/8 Durrës with an area of ​​14228 m2;
-Property No. 39/7 Durrës with an area of ​​6000 m2;
-Property No. 462/12 Durrës with an area of ​​3800 m2;
-Property No. 143/21 Durrës with an area of ​​5500 m2;
-Property No. 143/22 Durrës with an area of ​​5500 m2;
-Property No. 276/91 Durrës with an area of ​​500 m2;
-Property No. 276/84 Durrës with an area of ​​7000 m2;
-Property No. 276/89 Durrës with an area of ​​500 m2;
-Property No. 276/90 Durrës with an area of ​​500 m2;
-Property No. 276/88 Durrës with an area of ​​500 m2;
-Property No. 276/87 Durrës with an area of ​​3000 m2; and
-Property No. 276/85 Durrës with an area of ​​6000 m2.

In relation to this criminal proceeding, investigations are ongoing to identify other accomplices as well as other cases under investigation.

Clarification: Every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a final court decision.