FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Government officials with villas and luxury cars, SPAK cannot go to the riches
SPAK's annual report for 2025 highlights a huge gap between investigations against high-ranking officials and concrete results in confiscating their assets. Although some of the most prominent figures in Albanian politics have been on the radar of the Special Prosecution Office, the assets of those in power seem to remain almost untouched.
According to official data, during 2025 the value of seized assets related to high-ranking officials reached around 1.1 million euros, while the assets finally confiscated were only around 100 thousand euros. This figure is considered very low in relation to the assets declared or attributed to many politicians and high-ranking officials in public.
In recent years, SPAK has conducted investigations or court proceedings against several important political figures, including former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, former President Ilir Meta and former Minister Fatmir Mediu, but also against several mayors, MPs and other high-ranking officials. However, the report shows that the crackdown on their assets, which is considered one of the strongest instruments in the fight against corruption, remains very limited.
Meanwhile, the situation is different for issues related to organized crime. According to the report, during 2025 the value of assets seized for this category of criminal offenses reaches around 42.4 million euros, while the value of confiscated assets is around 1.8 million euros.
In total, during 2025, the value of assets seized and confiscated by SPAK amounts to around 45.4 million euros. Of this amount, around 43.49 million euros are seized assets, while only around 1.91 million euros have been definitively confiscated. This value also includes the seizure of Tether (USDT) cryptocurrencies with an equivalent value of around 12.4 million euros.
The report also shows that during 2025 the total value of seized and confiscated assets is lower compared to the previous year. In 2024 this figure reached around 65 million euros, while a year later it dropped to around 45.4 million euros.
According to SPAK, the difference between seized and finally confiscated assets is also related to objective factors, such as the duration of court proceedings until final decisions are made and the complexity of financial investigations. The institution emphasizes that during this period the use of special investigative measures has increased and the approach to parallel financial investigations has been strengthened, as well as inter-institutional and international cooperation for the tracing and recovery of assets.
However, the report highlights that during 2025 there were no seizures or confiscations under the Normative Act (OFL), while there are also no decisions to seize assets in connection with criminal offenses of simple corruption. These data have also brought back into focus the debate on the effectiveness of the mechanisms for controlling the assets of public officials, including the role of the High Inspectorate for Declaration and Control of Assets.
Lini një Përgjigje