Edi Rama accused of funneling $80,000 to 2012 re-election
Albanian Democrats say money is a violation of US and Albanian laws
Albania’s Democratic Party has made a criminal complaint against Edi Rama.
Albania’s Democratic Party has made a criminal complaint against Edi Rama. Photograph: Hektor Pustina/AP
Associated Press in Tirana, Albania
Last modified on Tuesday 5 July 2016
Albania’s opposition Democratic party made a criminal complaint against the prime minister, Edi Rama, on Monday, accusing him of illegally funneling $80,000 to Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012, in return for a photograph of the two men together.
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The Democrats brought the case to the prosecutor general’s office, saying Rama – who was then the opposition leader – paid the money in violation of US and Albanian laws to gain access to a campaign event in San Francisco in October 2012.
Last week, Bilal Shehu, 48, a US citizen of Albanian origin, pleaded guilty in federal court in New Jersey to willfully making foreign contributions and donations to the Obama campaign.
Rama has denied taking part in “any of President Obama’s electoral meetings” or that he paid for tickets to the San Francisco event, although he acknowledged meeting Shehu as “a member of the Albanian community in New York”.
“Edi Rama has committed at least three criminal acts … and personally profited from that,” said the Democratic lawmaker Eduard Halimi after handing over the request.
At the time, Rama proudly used the picture with Obama, months before parliamentary elections brought his Socialist party to power.
“Premier Rama has no connection with any kind of illegal funding,” a statement from Rama’s office said, “and the only ‘crime’ he committed in 2012 is that he had a picture with the US president at a time when the Albanian government and its chief had the doors closed and Albania’s international relations suffered.”
It was not clear if prosecutors would decide to investigate.
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According to documents filed in Shehu’s case in the US, investigated by the FBI, he received the money from a foreign source and provided it to a joint fundraising committee to disguise its true origin, so a foreign national could attend a campaign event.
Rama’s name was not mentioned in the case. The documents said the “foreign national” was denied access to the event in San Francisco but was allowed to be photographed with the president.
The New Jersey US attorney’s office said in a statement that no one from the fundraising committee is accused of wrongdoing, and the committee has fully cooperated with the investigation.
Shehu’s sentencing is scheduled for 5 October. The offense carries a maximum sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine.
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