Albanian Authorities Pursue 20 Individuals Suspected of Links to the Trump Family

SadaNews - The Albanian public prosecutor's office specializing in corruption cases has requested the arrest of 20 Albanians suspected of involvement in money laundering, with some potentially linked to a tourism project connected to the Trump family, local media has reported.

For about two weeks, protests have been taking place in Zvernec and on Sazan Island against the political project associated with the Trump family, with the protests expanding to the capital Tirana, which saw thousands of protesters on Saturday.

According to the anti-corruption prosecutor's office, investigations into international cocaine trafficking revealed the involvement of several individuals in "operations believed to have been used to conceal the source of assets and integrate illicit proceeds into the formal economy".

Four of the twenty wanted individuals were arrested on Saturday, according to the anti-corruption public prosecutor's office, without mentioning the tourism project in Zvernec.

The public prosecutor's statement also indicated that the court has ordered precautionary seizure of several assets, referring to sales contracts made by citizens, including one A.S., with the company "A...L...D". The statement added, "The amount of the precautionary seizure exceeds 128.4 million euros".

It also clarified that part of these suspected investments is "linked to properties and urban development projects in Tirana, Palasa, Himara, and other coastal areas".

According to the "France Presse" agency, the letters of the mentioned company may stand for "Albania Land Development". Based on public documents from the Albanian commercial register reviewed by the "France Presse" agency, there seems to be a match between the entity that purchased vast areas of land in Zvernec and the description recently provided by Ivanka Trump regarding the tourism project in a podcast.

She had said at the time, "We have 5 miles (about 8 kilometers) of waterfront directly across from the island (Sazan)", referring to "a magnificent peninsula with a beach lake on one side and the ocean on the other, and stunning white sand beaches".

The agency also noted that A.S. could be Arthur Shehu mentioned in several articles, particularly in an investigative report by the Albanian site "Reporter", describing him as the main seller of the land designated for the tourism complex on behalf of the company "Albania Land Development".