SPAK strikes criminal group: How they transferred millions of euros from Switzerland to Albania
Express newspaper
20/07/2025 15:58
The Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime in Albania has cracked down on a structured criminal group that organized and enabled the functioning of an informal money transfer system.
According to SPAK, from investigative actions in cooperation with Swiss justice authorities, the necessary evidence has been collected, which has proven the fact that the persons under investigation with the initials EF, BF and PK, in cooperation with each other, as well as in cooperation with several other persons residing in Lucerne, Switzerland, have set up the “Hawala” system.
Through this system, they have transferred and transported from Switzerland to Albania, considerable amounts of money, which had as their source of origin the activities of trafficking and trading of narcotics in the territory of Switzerland or in other countries.
How was the money transferred?
“Hawala” has enabled persons under investigation and other persons involved in criminal activities to quickly transfer sums of money from Switzerland to Albania, for a period of several years, at least from 2020 onwards.
The money senders delivered the money of criminal origin to the criminal group’s associates residing in Switzerland, informing them of the name of the person who was the recipient of the sums of money in Tirana.
The associates of the criminal group residing in Switzerland, as soon as the money was deposited, notified their associates in Tirana, the person under investigation EF, who is also the leader of this criminal group, of the amount of money deposited and the name of the person who was the recipient of the money in Tirana.
Subsequently, the person under investigation EF, in collaboration with the persons under investigation BF and PK, delivered the same amount of money that had been deposited with their associates in Switzerland, to the persons who were the recipients of the amounts in Tirana.
To carry out this criminal activity, the persons under investigation in Albania and their associates in Switzerland used currency exchange offices, money transfer offices and travel agencies.
The purpose of this activity by the structured criminal group was to make profits, where the value of the monetary benefit received by the persons under investigation was 6% of the amount of money transferred, which was then divided equally between the person under investigation EF and the associates in Switzerland.