FLASH
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The Fier Court has issued 14 arrest warrants; 10 of them have been executed...
More details have emerged from the police operation at the offices of "Bankers Petroleum". It is learned that the operation came after the signing of a series of arrest warrants by the Fier Court at the request of the prosecution.
It is reported that 14 arrest warrants have been issued. Bankers Petroleum CEO Hongping Xiao and former CEO Leonidha Çobo were arrested. It is also learned that 8 other people have been arrested.
While 4 other arrest warrants have not yet been executed by the police, as the wanted persons are foreign citizens and are not in Albania.
Since 2004, Bankers has drilled about 1,000 new oil wells in the Patoz-Marinëz area. Over 20 years, Bankers has produced about 13 million tons of oil.
The company's revenues from oil production are over 4 billion Euros, almost as much as the annual budget of Albania. For 20 years, Bankers Petroleum Albania has paid zero tax on its profits to the Albanian state budget.
The agreement stipulates that Bankers Petroleum Albania is obliged to pay annual profit tax at the rate of 50% of the profit.
Bankers Petroleum has been manipulating expenses every year, fabricating and inflating expenses. After 20 years, the Bank's expenses exceed its income.
In 2011, Bankers fabricated $247 million in irregular expenses to avoid paying $60 million in taxes. A €100 million fine for fraud and manipulation, confirmed by the Supreme Court, was also suspended.
The dispute between the Albanian government and Bankers began in 2014, when the National Agency of Natural Resources, (AKBN), the institution representing Albania in the concession contract, conducted an audit of Bankers' balance sheet and the company's procurement procedures for 2011 and concluded that the vast majority of the company's expenses for that year were irregular.
In a report compiled by the National Agency of Natural Resources, it is stated that Bankers should pay the state budget $60 million in profit tax, as through fraudulent balance sheets it has declared inflated expenses and in violation of the contract it has with Albania. To avoid taxes and hide profits, Bankers had fabricated $247 million in expenses.
Based on the AKBN audit, the General Directorate of Taxes submitted a claim to Bankers for $60 million in unpaid taxes.
The fraud has been proven by several reports from the Supreme Audit Office. It has been proven by AKBN, Albpetrol, by several final court decisions, etc. Tax authorities blocked the accounts of the company, which never paid taxes, as it manipulated expenses and made irregular expenditures every year.
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