The Special Court has announced the verdict for Bledar Lilo and Artur Balla, the bodyguard and brother-in-law of Rezart Taçi.
For Balla, the court gave 11 years in prison, while for Lilo 10 years, the two convicts benefit from the shortened trial. They are accused of money laundering in connection with 18.4 million euros that were to be laundered in Albania.
18.4 million euros of the Italian mafia 'Cosa Nostra' were blocked in a bank in Albania in November 2021. SPAK says that Taçi would clean 18.4 million euros by moving to several banks in several countries and would receive the percentage.
From SPAK investigations, Artur Balla and Beldar Lilo have had an active role in helping Italians Francesco Zummo and economist Fabio Petruzzella, both arrested in Italy, to open bank accounts and make money transfers for their laundering.
Balla and Lilo helped the Italians with their movements in Albania and made money transfers according to the orders given by Rezart Taçi, who is wanted by the police.
18.4 million euros had been deposited since July in a bank account opened at 'Alpha bank' in Tirana and then should have been transferred to Hong-Kong and Singapore through a company owned by Rezart Taç, but SPAK blocked the operation.
The account was in the name of Francesco Zummo with the amount of 18,399,996 euros. While Taçi would earn 3 million euros from this operation, or 16% of the amount.
The sum came from a bank in the Swiss Canton of Ticino and was part of Francesco Zummo's 150 million euro fortune confiscated by Italian courts as Cosa Nostra income.