The Special Court has announced its verdict for businessman Rezart Taçi.
He has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, according to Top Channel. He was found guilty of the criminal offense of money laundering for the Italian mafia, Cosa Nostra.
SPAK had requested a 13-year prison sentence for Taçi.
In his statement, prosecutor Klodian Braho not only sought the conviction of Taçi—who has been wanted since 2021 on charges of money laundering and involvement in a criminal group—but also requested the confiscation of over €18 million deposited in an account in Tirana. The funds were intended to be distributed to other accounts in Hong Kong and Singapore.
In the money laundering operation linked to the Italian mafia and investigated by Braho, others implicated include Francesco Zummo, who is under investigation in Italy for facilitating Cosa Nostra, as well as Fabio Petruzzella and Daniele Cestagalli.
From this scheme, the Albanian businessman was suspected of profiting around €3 million. The money laundering was attempted through a second-tier bank, where the €18 million was deposited and presented as if it would be invested in the hydrocarbon sector.
SPAK stated during the proceedings that, among other evidence, it possessed a draft agreement concerning the €18 million, which was allegedly to be issued as a loan with an interest rate of 5%.
The transactions and criminal activities were partially carried out, but due to SPAK’s intervention, the funds were initially frozen and had already been confiscated earlier by court order.
