Berat Prosecution Office has sought security measures of “House arrest” and “Duty to appear before the judicial police officer” for 11 people who are under investigation for the criminal offense of “Conducting Financial Activity without a License”.
The investigations into criminal case No. 47 revealed that six commercial entities, through their administrators and employees, operated a currency exchange business without authorization from the competent authorities.
The six-month proactive investigation conducted by Berat Prosecution Office covered five municipalities across the county, and substantiated the unlawful activities of S.T., H.S., M.M., S.H., S.C., A.H., A.S., O.V., Z.M., E.T., and K.P.
The suspects operated businesses registered as agents authorized to provide money transfer services on behalf of and for the account of a non-bank financial institution. Specifically, UnionNet and Western Union service outlets located in Berat and Kuçovë were found not to be on the list of licensed foreign exchange offices, operating without a licence issued by the Bank of Albania.
Pursuant to authorization granted by the prosecution to conduct covert investigative activities and photographic and video surveillance, investigators conducted 28 controlled foreign exchange transactions at the suspected businesses, confirming that they were allegedly engaging in foreign exchange activities without the required licence.
Based on these findings, Berat Prosecution Office requested the security measures of “Duty to appear before the judicial police officer”, and “House arrest”, as stipulated in Articles 233, 234, and 237 of Albania’s Criminal Procedure Code.
A total of 88 million lekë, €118,000, US$7,390, and £665 were seized during searches conducted as part of the investigations.