Albanian anti-graft prosecutors seize second villa linked to ex-deputy PM Balluku

Albania’s Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime has seized a second villa linked to former Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, escalating its investigation into alleged corruption and asset concealment. A special court ordered the seizure of the property at the Green Coast complex in Palasë, on Albania’s southern coast, SPAK announced on Wednesday Tirana Times.
Prosecutors allege the villa was effectively owned by Balluku but registered under the name of former Albanian international footballer Igli Tare. It is the second property tied to Balluku and Tare, following the earlier seizure of a villa at the White Rock complex in Dhërmi, also formally in Tare’s name. SPAK claims both properties were concealed through the same mechanism.
In the Palasë case, prosecutors state that businessman Arbër Abazi, owner of Alko Impex General Construction, financed construction work on the villa worth between €288,616 and €410,526. His company was part of the consortium that won Lot 7 of Tirana’s Outer Ring Road project. SPAK alleges Balluku, while serving as infrastructure and energy minister, requested and received the investment in exchange for favoring Abazi’s company in the procurement process. She is suspected of passive corruption, concealment of assets, and money laundering.
The investigation has intensified pressure on Balluku, a prominent figure in the governing Socialist Party. Earlier, prosecutors secured a court order suspending her from public office, a decision upheld by the Special Court after the Constitutional Court deadlocked 4-4 on an appeal by Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government.
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