Ilir Meta headed for prison, the "CEZ-DIA" affair sinks the former president, the file is an absolute priority of SPAK, a request to the court is expected

The head of SPAK, Altin Dumani, warned yesterday that very soon we will have sensational news about the CEZ-DIA affair, as the Special Prosecutor's Office will start "cutting off heads". Dumani said that this is a priority file among all the cases handled by the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. Sources indicate that the file has been closed by SPAK and the request to the court is expected. The "big fish" that risks arrest is former president Ilir Meta, who was summoned for the first time on February 22, 2023 within the Special Prosecutor's Office and was questioned for three hours. He is suspected of being involved in corruption and money laundering, devouring the money of Albanian citizens during the time when the current leader of the Freedom Party was the Minister of Economy in the "Berisha 2" government during the years 2009-2011. Among the many characters, the main one who has been questioned about the case is Kastriot Ismailaj, the only one arrested and the only one convicted of fraud. Ismailaj was sentenced to 11 years in prison, where he was released a few weeks after serving his sentence. Meanwhile, Romeo Karaj has submitted another criminal report that, due to the competences, included SPAK not only because of the suspicions that corruption may have been committed there, but because of the names of the former officials denounced, among them the former Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Ilir Meta.

Meta's reaction and details from the SPAK file

Meta stated in February that he has provided clarifications since the year this case was opened. "I have nothing to do with the agreement. The file is activated every time the SP is in crisis," said Meta. But how does the prosecution connect the CEZ-DIA case with his name? "With the portals of Endri Fuga. It is becoming an absolutely absurd process". Asked if he is afraid of arrest, Meta answered "Yes, don't". When asked whether or not he had faith in SPAK, Meta chose not to answer, laughing ironically. The suspicions that led Ilir Meta to SPAK are related to the accusations raised in the media through various articles, that the former President was behind Ismailaj. Ilir Meta does not deny the trips with this person, but said that they were part of work, state duty. Another testimony supported by SPAK is Elvis Mata, former chairman of LRI and former Executive Director of "DIA" company. Asked about this person and the fact that he may be an associate of justice for this file, Ilir Meta called Mata a fraud. "Ordinary fraud, is excluded from the LRI".

The message that sinks Meta

Kastriot Ismailaj was under surveillance for this scandal since 2008, the prosecution also got hold of an SMS received by Ismailaj, (accused of laundering about 7 million euros), from a phone number (0682031701) that is suspected of it was in use in Ilir Meta. On June 22, 2009, two days before the elections, according to Artan Hoxha, this businessman was contacted by Ilir Meta, who asked him for 200,000 euros. The SMS was sent on June 22, 2009 at 17:27: "Tomorrow at dinner (June 23), we must meet. I need 200 thousand for sure. Don't forget." "File 978" had over 8,000 pages of wiretapping beginning in 2008, involving journalists, media publishers, politicians and businessmen. There were even plans to bring money from Africa and clean it in Albania. The eavesdropped businessman was contacted by Ilir Meta two days before the 2009 elections, and he asked for 200,000 euros," said Artan Hoxha. He said that the wiretapping was destroyed on 27.10.2010, by court decision. "The bleached materials and intercepts should have been destroyed, but I'm not sure what happened. In 2016, I took out parts of the file that have not yet been deleted", Artan Hoxha further stated some time ago.

The evidence that sinks him

Kastriot Ismailaj's wife also gave a strong testimony that sinks Meta, who shows the connections of the president, then minister, with the CEZ-DIA affair." "Kastrioti was a friend of Ilir Meta and until the end of 2012 his relations with Ilir Meta were extremely close. Even before he became Prime Minister or an important person in politics, Ilir Meta and his wife, Monika, often came to our house. We spent many lunches and dinners together: Ilir Meta had strengthened ties with Kastriot since the time of FRESH's creation. Kastrioti had also mediated the reconciliation of Ilir Meta with Fatos Nano and this is a publicly known fact. To bring you back to the history of CEZ, I am bringing you just one example: it was precisely Ilir Meta, who, after realizing the reduction in the price of energy,