Two emails sent by businessman Alban Eftimi to former Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku are part of the SPAK file that prove the former minister's indirect ownership of a luxury villa in Palasa. According to SPAK, the villa was allegedly obtained as a bribe in exchange for tenders for businessman Arbër Abazi's company.
In an email dated September 14, 2020, Eftimi writes to Balluk regarding the interventions they were making to the villa under construction.
"I'm sending you a review. We have the idea that even if you decide to rent it out one day, users can feel pampered just like in a hotel. The stairs between the 2 buildings have creeping greenery on both side walls. On one side of the pool, there is a staircase and a dining table at the same level with the water to enjoy the "infinity pool" to the fullest. The pool at the edge facing the sea also has a plan to place glasses and some plates.
On the 2 side wings of the houses at the entrance and suite levels, 2 whirlpool tubs have been built (see Roccabella hotel in Santorini).
"We will still work on the suites with variants. The kitchen-living room and master bedroom wardrobe partitions are accordion-style. A good part of the areas around the pool are covered in teak for a slightly warmer, yacht-like feeling. Consider it as an alternative when we finish the renderings and if it doesn't work out, we'll go back to blue marble," the email states.
4 days later, Eftimi sends a document to Balluk's address with the name "Twin Villas in Palas". The document consists of 11 sheets, where the first sheet contains the note "Twin Villas in Palas", while the other sheets contain the floor plans and projects of the surfaces of the two villas.
From the investigations of SPAK it results that the villa 188/1 in Palasa up to the carabiner phase was built with the investment of Igli Tare. Subsequently, the investments for the other works of the villa were taken over and made by the citizen Arbër Abazi, owner of the company “Alko Impex General Construction”, a company which together with several other economic operators has won the tender for the construction of lot 7 of the Great Ring Road. Arbër Abazi is a family connection of Balluk, as he lives with a relative of hers.
In parallel with the seizure of the villa, SPAK has registered Balluku's name as a person under investigation for corruption, money laundering and concealment of assets, while businessman Abazi is being investigated for corruption. Previously, Belinda Balluku was being investigated for corruption and money laundering, as she is suspected of having received a luxury villa as a bribe from the Eurocol company, to which she had awarded a tender when she ran Albcontrol, while she is accused of tender abuses, specifically the tender for the construction of the Llogara tunnel and all the lots of the Tirana Outer Ring Road.
