Four nationals, the citizens E.Sh. and B.K., former directors of the State Cadastral Agency (ASHK); P.Ç., a legal specialist at ASHK; and K.H., the beneficiary of the properties in question — have been remanded in custody at the request of the Fier Prosecution Office in connection with the criminal offences of “Forgery of Documents,” “Abuse of Office,” and “Laundering of the Proceeds of a Criminal Offence or Criminal Activity,” provided for under Articles 186/2, 248 and 287, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code.

Furthermore, during the investigation to date, authorities seized more than 76 properties, covering a total area of 1,143 hectares of land (equivalent to 11,437,056 square meters), as well as EUR 150,000.

In the course of investigations into criminal proceeding no. 1026 of 2025, Fier Prosecution Office, working in close cooperation with the Judicial Police Services of Fier Local Police Directorate and employing proactive investigative methods, has established that:

K.H. managed to register a substantial area of land spanning 1,143 hectares, together with EUR 150,000, in co-ownership with four other individuals, in cadastral zones 3301 and 3358, Seman i Ri and Sheq Marinas, Fier, by presenting two forged decisions of Fier Commission for the Restitution and Compensation of Properties as title documents.

Subsequently, acting as a co-owner and as the representative of the other co-owners, K.H. sold the land to two different companies by means of a forged special power of attorney.

E.Sh. and B.K., in their capacity as directors of the Fier State Cadastre Agency (ASHK), and P.Ç., as a legal specialist at ASHK, Fier, registered the properties in question as co-owned by K.H., in violation of Law no. 111/2018, “On Cadastre”; Law no. 20/2020, “On the Completion of Transitional Processes of Ownership in the Republic of Albania”; Council of Ministers Decision no. 639, dated 16.10.2024; and Council of Ministers Instruction no. 2, dated 12.09.2012, “On the Determination of the Elements of Acts to Be Verified by the Immovable Property Registration Office and the Procedure for Issuing the Registrar’s Order,” by failing to request, pursuant to these legal and sub-legal acts, confirmation from the Property Treatment Agency of the decisions issued by the Fier Commission for the Restitution and Compensation of Properties, a verification that would have revealed that the decisions were forged.

Moreover, the investigations established that, when registering property no. 3**, cadastral zone 3358, citizen  B.K., former director of ASHK, Fier, registered an area exceeding the amount restituted to the former owner, Th.S., under forged decision no. 8*, dated 20.01.1997, issued by the Commission for the Restitution and Compensation of Properties at the Fier District Council. As a result, K.H. acquired an additional substantial area of land.

During the registration of the properties, E.Sh. and P.Ç. also changed the cadastral classification of the area registered in the ownership of K.H. and others from arable land to non-fruit-bearing land, without an administrative act issued by the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Agriculture, or the Directorate for Land Administration and Protection at the Fier Regional Council.

The personal and property security measures were executed by the Judicial Police Services of Fier Local Police Directorate, in cooperation with the Local Police Directorates of Tirana and Vlora.