The Fier Prosecutor’s Office has uncovered a suspected fraud and document forgery scheme through which 44,100 square meters of state-owned land was transferred. At its request, the court ordered pretrial detention for three officials at the Fier Cadastre and a notary. Another employee of the institution was banned from leaving the country and ordered to report to the judicial police.
The case began with a complaint from a citizen who said that a plot of land in the village of Povelçë, Fier, had been registered in his family’s name without their knowledge or consent. Checks raised suspicions that the property, previously registered as state-owned, had been transferred into the family’s name using documents containing false information.
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According to prosecutors, a property certificate suspected of being forged was used in the process, along with a property register record showing physical alterations, erasures and writing added over the original text. The documentation also included two notarized powers of attorney. Investigators suspect the signatures for these were obtained on blank sheets of paper. One of the people recorded as having appeared before the notary was outside Albania when the power of attorney was drawn up.
Investigators suspect that registration details for another property, measuring 4,000 square meters, were used to transfer 44,100 square meters of land into the family’s name, despite there being no title deed for that area.
The cadastral documents were issued on January 25, 2023. Five days later, on January 30, the property was sold.
The buyers paid 88,200 euros for the land, intending to build a photovoltaic park. The investigation shows that the money went into the bank account of the representative holding the power of attorney but was not given to the owners listed as the sellers. There are also suspicions that the price stated in the contract did not reflect the actual sale price.
Another incident under investigation concerns the period after the complaint was filed: the representative holding the power of attorney is suspected of giving the complainants 15,000 euros in cash to withdraw it.
During a search of the former director of the Fier Cadastre’s home, investigators found seven envelopes containing money in a locked drawer, marked with various names and notes. A total of 31,720 euros, 608,000 lek, 5,000 Norwegian kroner and 1,400 Canadian dollars was seized. Investigators also found 46 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and 55 shotgun cartridges in the home.
The investigation involves the former head of the Administrative Unit, the former director of the Fier Cadastre, a legal specialist, a notary and a cartography specialist. Depending on their roles, they are suspected of fraud with serious consequences, document forgery, abuse of office and laundering the proceeds of crime.
The Fier Prosecutor’s Office says the investigation is continuing. It is checking whether the scheme was also used for other state-owned properties and working to identify those involved and determine each person’s criminal responsibility.
