In a new event in the field of judiciary it has become a highlight that the former director of the National Agency of Natural Resources (AKBN), Klodian Gradeci has been released by the District Court of Tirana.
Journalist Klodiana Lala reporting on the event for “Balkanweb” on Monday said that Gradeci was in house arrest. The Tirana court changed the security measure which was upheld by the Appeal Court, according to the above source.
The Prosecution of Tirana ordered the arrest of 5 officials of the National Agency of Natural Resources for which the court imposed the security measure of detention in prison, while for another the security measure of house arrest was imposed on October 6, 2020.
They were accused of a long list of charges as “fraud with serious consequences”, “abuse of duty”, “failure to perform duties by tax authorities”, “fraud” committed in collaboration, “smuggling of goods for which excise duty is paid or with full suspension or part of customs or excise duties ”, “concealment of income”.
Gradeci, who held the position of director of hydrocarbons at AKBN, has been accused of being involved in a fraud scheme suspected of causing $1.5 million in financial damage.
Sources said earlier that Gradeci was detained in Rinas airport when he was just returning from Turkey where he had left a few days before the finalization of the operation during which the other alleged accomplices were detained under the charges of the same fraud scheme.
It is not yet known on what specific arguments the ruling by Tirana Court is taken in this case involving senior officials of the National Agency of Natural Resources, which is supposed to protect and administer the interests of the Albanian state in the fields of hydrocarbons, mining and energy.
Such a change of course in the judicial case of the alleged fraud scheme of AKBN’s senior officials draws the attention as it happens against the background of detention of Kruja Judge Enekelda Hoxha and a number of other officials, including the doctor of QSUT, Edvin Prifti by Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) which was considered by PM Edi Rama and the US Ambassador, Yuri Kim as a meaningful case of the functioning of new justice reform institutions in Albania.
It is to be noted that there have not been any reactions by official sources of AKBN itself on the case so far. /argumentum.al
