CRYPTO BOSSES/ How the silent ‘alliance’ of organized crime that circulates millions of dirty euros in Albania works

In the past, organized crime laundered money using straightforward methods: suitcases of euros crossing borders, luxury apartments where millions were stored, numerous constructions to make them appear legitimate.

A living, physical economy, where every step leaves its mark, but also its own risk. Today, everything has changed…..

Old methods have become too slow for a world where technology rules everything. Money no longer passes through customs, is not seized on the street. All it takes is a laptop, an internet connection and a click. Money disappears into virtual networks, crosses borders without a trace, and is transformed into cryptocurrencies.

“Criminal groups have developed themselves, they have passed different methods of money laundering, from traditional methods to new methods. And state organizations must be on the same wave of development, to make it possible to see who are the new windows, which crime follows to hide dirty money”

 “Regarding the fact that laundering the proceeds of crime by criminal groups, of course, always brings innovation, it will definitely be oriented towards technological innovations, referring to the way digital money has developed in recent years, it is a separate challenge for law enforcement agencies that must take control of the laundering of the proceeds of crime,”  said former prosecutor Eugen Beci.

A “wallet” in Tirana can control millions of euros that appear clean, but their origin remains criminal.

This is the evolution of money laundering: from streets and buildings, to digital laboratories where crime combines technology, financial fraud and luxury….

“Tracing crypto is incredibly difficult, but thanks to the close cooperation we have with Europol, Eurojust, and countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Germany, France, etc., we have created a joint non-investigative team that works as a group, and we exchange information with them on the news that the crypto world produces.”

A system where every click can hide a dark story, and where traces are not left in vaults, but in the blockchain. A digital world that few understand, but which has become the perfect haven for organized crime.

“The lack of training, the lack of sufficient human resources to track these types of transactions, certainly creates difficulties for state bodies to find out who the perpetrator was behind a transaction,” said Nadia Elbasani, a lecturer.

“Committing criminal activity through cryptocurrencies forces investigative bodies to keep up with technology, which means that the investigation of these methods of laundering the proceeds of crime must begin with the accurate identification of the data contained in a cryptocurrency,” said former prosecutor Eugen Beci.

As institutions try to follow these virtual flows, crime is one step ahead: it has created an invisible economy, where dirty money turns into power, business, and luxury, appearing clean but carrying its own dark history.

Call-center bosses and virtual wallet ‘masters’, the silent ‘alliance’ that circulates millions of dirty euros

Today, dirty money travels across borders, without stopping at customs, without questions, without a name…..

They are transformed into bitcoins, distributed to dozens of virtual “wallets”, and returned as clean money, ready to be invested in businesses, in property, in luxury, in power. This is the most modern form of money laundering…..

“There are companies like chanalasis and arkand that track these wallets, so far they have had a very good result in tracking wallets that are involved in money laundering or illegal activities, managing to identify how these funds have moved, how they have been transferred to other portfolios to make it more difficult to track them.” said Dorian Kane, a crypto expert

“A banking transaction is many times safer and more controllable than a transaction made by individuals, since in a banking transaction the person is identified through the bank that is the intermediary and the other recipient to whom these lek are transferred. Whereas in a bitcoin transaction, it is impossible to identify them since they are identified through a numeric, alphanumeric code and there is no data regarding the sender and recipient of this exchange ,” said lawyer Dritan Jahaj.

A system built on the illusion of financial freedom, which is in fact today seen as the safest haven for organized crime….

And behind this system, there are not only people from the dark world of crime. Behind this scheme, not only blood money and trafficking money are laundered, but also those made from call center scams.

Behind this scheme are people who have never seen the stock market, but know how to manipulate the most advanced financial technology systems.

“The new methods have the “misfortune” of not having a great history and undoubtedly, the aspect of lack of knowledge, training of being at the forefront, is missing. But, as long as we are discussing it, this means that attention should be directed to this sector as well, undoubtedly the main element is international cooperation. Other countries have more history than Albania”, said Nadia Elbasani, lecturer, 

“This is something that many promises make, promises that are not true, just from the way they present themselves, the way they contact you, the way they present themselves to get a service or sell a product, these are the ways that are not used by the big official sites that are licensed ,” said Dorian Kane, a crypto expert.

They hide behind dark-glass offices in the center of Tirana, where someone picks up a headset every day and, in a quiet voice, says to an investor somewhere in Italy:

“Yes, sir. You have made the right choice. You will gain a lot…”

That’s where it all begins, a global scam that turns people’s savings into cryptocurrencies, and then into the assets of a criminal network that only knows how to disappear without a trace.

“We were unable to recover any money at this time. Through the mechanization of Bitcoin, it is very difficult to recover money…”

This statement affirms the fact that crime is no longer on the streets, it is in the “cloud”. And its traces are no longer left in safes, but in the blockchain, a digital space that few people know how to read…..

“It is a sector that has great difficulties and is new as a sector. And of course, its development will have to be parallel from the aspect of human resources of the state administration of state institutions. Inter-institutional cooperation and international cooperation is the key element, which makes us move in parallel with all other state bodies and other countries in terms of money laundering through cryptocurrencies”, said Nadia Elbasani, lecturer.