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CNA investigated/ Erion Veliaj, for abuse of office with decision

2025-07-30 12:37:00, Aktualitet CNA

CNA, in June, published materials, new data from another investigation that led to what could be a new accusation against Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj.

CNA reported that after charges were filed under four important articles of the Criminal Code, such as committing “Active and passive corruption of local elected officials”, “Laundering the proceeds of crime”, “Bringing prohibited items into detention cells”, “Refusal to declare, failure to declare, concealment or false declaration of assets, private interests of elected officials and public servants or any other person who has a legal obligation to declare”, Erion Veliaj was caught by another court in terms of abuse of office and conflict of interest.

Investigation/ Court catches Erion Veliaj red-handed, abuse of office by decision
June 19, 13:23

With a decision dated 27.03.2025 by Judge Gentian Hamiti, Erion Veliaj was caught red-handed by the Administrative Court of Appeal, after abusing his office by interfering with the General Local Plan, which is competent to be approved by the KKT, and abusively with a Detailed Local Plan he intervened to build a road.

According to the approved PDV, Unit Tr-7 is bordered by four main roads: Rr. “Bardhyl”, Rr. “Derhemi”, Rr. “Hoxha Tahsim” and Rr. “Qemal Stafa” and the only internal road that crosses the unit is Rr. “Faik Tërnova”.

In PDV Tr-7, there is a non-existent road inside it, which overlaps private property, violating the property interests of other owners, members of society.

So, we have a decision signed by the mayor in violation of the law to build a road, which we later discovered led to the properties of his wife, Ajola Xoxa, who had passed them on to her cousin Valmir Xoxa, who was walking around Tirana with 140 thousand euros stuffed into pillows.

Scheme/ How Veliaj signed the road for Ajola's properties
June 20, 13:53

CNA's investigation with the discovery of the Administrative Court of Appeal's decision on Veliaj is also found in the decision made by SPAK on Ajola Xoxa and Erion Veliaj.

It reflects precisely the decision of the Administrative Court of Appeals, which found Veliaj guilty of abuse of office.

According to the analysis of documents and evidence reviewed by SPAK, it is noted that:

"All the arguments above configure the objective side of the criminal offense of "Abuse of office", provided for by Article 248 of the Criminal Code. The concrete objective actions of citizen Erion Veliaj, in his capacity as Mayor of Tirana, are proven to have been committed in violation of the law, in failure to properly fulfill his duty. The subject of the criminal offense of abuse of office is special, therefore the commission of the criminal offense must be carried out by the person exercising public functions. In this case, citizen Erion Veliaj"

The decision further highlights that it concludes that Veliaj has committed acts contrary to the law, in failure to properly fulfill his duties, which have brought consequences related to both the material benefit of the senior local official himself and his family members, as well as the damage to the legitimate interests of citizens and the state, and all these acts lead to the consumption of the criminal offense of Abuse of Office.

"For all of the above, from the entirety of the investigative actions from which the objective actions of citizen Erion Veliaj have emerged, analyzed in relation to the elements of the criminal offense, the conclusion is reached that this citizen has committed actions contrary to the law, in failure to properly fulfill his duty, which have brought consequences related to both the material benefit of the senior local official himself and his family members as well as the damage to the legitimate interests of citizens and the state. These actions configure the elements provided for by Article 248 of the Criminal Code, "Abuse of office", states the SPAK report.

We recall here that, during the CNA investigation, it was discovered that the same person who sued and found Erion Veliaj guilty of violating the law and abusing his office, Vilma Rakipi, is the same person who defended Mayor Erion Veliaj in court after his arrest.

In the meantime, we are bringing you CNA's investigation into the material case, which you can read in full with documents and evidence at the links below./ CNA