Albanian Officials Arrested for Corruption
Albanian police arrested eight officials from the department of metrology in the Ministry of Economy, accused of passive corruption, abuse of power and theft.
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| Handcuffs | Source: Flickr |
The arrests follow a seven-month investigation by the Task Force Against Economic Crime and Corruption, which is part of the Tirana prosecutor’s office.
In a statement on Thursday, police said that the officials working in cooperation with one another conducted fictional tests and calibrations of machines in Tirana gas stations, rigging the pumps to give fake sale volumes to clients in exchange for bribes.
The arrested officials include the deputy director of the department of Metrology, the director for the Tirana area and six inspectors. Meanwhile police have issued an arrest warrant for another inspector from the same department.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy is controlled by the junior government partner, the Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI.
The head of the LSI, Ilir Meta, is currently on trial for corruption in the Supreme Court after a video was broadcast earlier this year appearing to show him discussing corrupt deals with another former minister, Dritan Prifti.
Meta has denied wrongdoing and has called the charges against him politically motivated.
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