Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj has been arrested. The order was issued by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. The GJKKO has ordered the mayor to be placed under “prison arrest” for several criminal offenses. At the request of SPAK, it is learned that his wife Ajola Xoxa has been placed under “house arrest” security measure.
We recall that Veliaj testified at the Special Prosecution Office for about 5 hours on December 26, 2024. He was questioned by investigators, as part of a property investigation launched months earlier. That afternoon, he said at a meeting of the Municipal Council that he had been “anonymously denounced by a character who does not exist.”
His wife was also questioned, while earlier searches were carried out in their apartment and that of the mayor’s brother, Arbër Veliaj. Searches which were deemed legal by the court after their appeal.
The Special Prosecution Office is investigating Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj and his family members on suspicions that they may have been involved in “passive corruption”, “active corruption”, “money laundering” and “failure to declare assets”.
Through an official announcement earlier, SPAK said that proceeding number 27/2024 was registered on February 8 initially for the criminal offense of passive corruption of senior officials, after verification of a report made by SPAK by a citizen self-identified as a NA citizen. SPAK is expected to come out with an official and detailed announcement!