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The "Bankers Petroleum" scandal, how former administrator Leonidha Çobo benefited from millions of dollars from numerous abuses

2025-07-03 13:16:25Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The "Bankers Petroleum" scandal, how former administrator Leonidha
Leonidha Çobo

An in-depth investigation by the Fier Prosecutor's Office has struck at the heart of the company "Bankers Petroleum Albania Ltd", revealing a vast network of fraud and abuse.

14 security measures have been issued for the company's executives and former executives, while 9 of them have already been executed. Meanwhile, 5 foreign citizens have been declared wanted.

The investigations, launched after a complaint from the Tax Investigation Directorate, have uncovered sophisticated schemes for concealing income, money laundering, abuse of office and VAT fraud. According to the prosecution, the company used fraudulent methods to generate fictitious profits, thus avoiding tax obligations.

The fraudulent schemes include fictitiously inflating expenses to avoid paying income tax and illegally obtaining VAT refunds. The company is suspected of falsifying financial documents and conducting suspicious transactions with companies and individuals both domestically and abroad.

The prosecution suspects that the entire company structure functioned as an elaborate scheme for personal gain and avoidance of legal obligations. In collaboration with other individuals and companies, “Bankers” built an entire network of dubious operations that served only to hide real profits.

From the searches carried out at the company's premises and private residence, important evidence was seized that supports the accusations of fraud and money laundering.

The prosecution has also issued an arrest warrant for Leonidha Çobo, the former administrator of the company "Bankers Petroleum Albania Ltd", as well as other citizens.

But how exactly is Çobo involved in this genuine corruption scheme?

Leonidha Çomo took bribes from contractors

Despite the staggering salary that Leonidha Çobo received, he received other benefits by taking percentages in the form of bribes from the company's contractors. This data has emerged from the investigative file in charge of Leonidha Çobo, the former Director of Bankers Petroleum, who was previously reported to the prosecutor's office by his own employers. According to the denunciation of Bankers, but also the prosecution's material, Çobo had built a corruption scheme with personal benefits. For this scheme, Çobo used an Italian company, which has circulated more than 10 million US dollars.

Scheme

The fraudulent scheme began in 2010 when Bankers Petroleum, under the direction of Çobo, entered into an agreement with the Italian marketing company, MAB OIL Ltd. This company was selected by Çobo as a consultant for the sale of crude oil in the European market. But to benefit from this contract, the Italian company had to return Loni Çobo, in the form of a commission, considerable amounts of money. “The alarm signals in the company were evident, but the person appointed as the Head of Audit by Mr. Çobo played a passive role, and was directly corrupted by Mr. Çobo in order to buy his silence,” says a public letter that Bankers Petroleum Albania has sent to Albanian institutions. The facts presented in this letter, but also in the report made to the prosecutor's office by Bankers, show that Leonidha Çobo had made a second agreement with the Italian company where he received a “commission” for each job done.

The former CEO of Bankers Petroleum, Leonidha Çobo, was so confident in the work he was doing that most of his communications with the Italian marketing company, MAB OIL Ltd, were conducted through the company's official email. It was precisely this email communication that raised red flags at Bankers and subsequently initiated the verification. "According to the instructions and approval of the Director of MAB OIL ltd Mr. Massimilliani Calabro, Mr. Çobo regularly received commission payments of up to 200 thousand USD per year," - states the complaint that Bankers Petroleum has filed with the prosecutor's office.

Suspicions of even greater abuse

Bankers Petroleum's public letter mentions a series of invoices issued by Leonidha Çobo on behalf of the Italian company MAB OIL Ltd. "Mr. Çobo issued invoices against MAB Oil Ltd, which may also be inflated income, since according to their source, only a justification was needed to access his bank account in Italy. In this way, Mr. Çobo found a way to transfer money to Italy through the foreign company MAB OIL Ltd", - says the Bankers Petroleum public letter. According to it, this scheme was used to transfer money whenever necessary. The moment this money enters the banking system through a regular invoice, it is considered "clean", but Bankers Petroleum claims that it is money created by an illegal activity in Albania.

Family benefits

But the benefits at the expense of the company did not stop there. In a public letter to all Albanian institutions, Bankers Petroleum explains that "According to the facts, MAB OIL ltd has also covered personal expenses for Mr. Çobo for his close ties (not blood ties) with the purpose of transferring to Italy." Sources from the prosecution claimed that these are some payments that were made in favor of the Albanian citizen TZ in Italy. At the behest of Çobo, the Italian company paid the expenses for this citizen to be settled overseas.

Fraudulent scheme, how money was stolen from land rents

Managing a giant company like Bankers Petroleum is a huge responsibility, but at the same time it provides important information about the company's development plans. It is precisely these development plans that were used by the former Director of Bankers Petroleum to create personal benefits at the expense of the company, but also of the residents of the Patos - Marinza area. Using inside information, connections with other company managers and family connections, Çobo rented the lands of the villagers in the area for a loaf of bread or state lands for two lekë and then gave them to his company at exorbitant prices. This fraudulent scheme was discovered by Bankers Petroleum and is now under investigation by the Albanian prosecution. So far, it has been revealed that Çobo has earned millions of dollars from such abusive schemes.

Land rental abuse

In the context of carrying out hydrocarbon operations in the Patos - Marinza area, the company Bankers Petroleum often has to rent the lands of local residents or state lands. These lands are used for various purposes of the company's daily work. But the in-depth investigation has shown that in reality these lands were used for the personal purposes of Leonidha Çobo and his close associates. According to a public letter that Bankers Petroleum has sent to all Albanian authorities, the fraudulent scheme began in 2015 when Leonidha Çobo, in the role of CEO of Bankers Petroleum, significantly increased the budget intended for renting lands. This budget increase also brought about a fictitious increase in the price of one square meter of rented land from 150 lek per m2 to 400 lek per m2.

Personal benefits

"As a result of the price increase in 2014, from 150 lek to 400 lek per m2, Bankers lost millions of lek, considering here also the abusive personal contracts signed by Mr. Çobo. In particular, Mr. Çobo paved the way for individuals who were advised to rent land from public institutions at an insignificant price and who then rented it to Bankers at many times higher prices," says the letter that Bankers Petroleum sent to Albanian institutions. According to it, in order to successfully carry out this scheme, Çobo had also engaged other Bankers Petroleum executives, such as his subordinate, Mr. Genci Voja, the Land Manager.

Former CEO of Bankers, millions of euros of abuse of community funds

Projects and grants in favor of the community are one of the few favors that the residents of the oil-bearing areas in Albania should have. But even this favor has been cut short by the malice of the former managers of Bankers Petroleum Albania, who have abused these projects. Through a sophisticated scheme, the former CEO of Bankers Petroleum, Leonidha Çobo, and the former Community Relations Manager, Mr. Adriatik Golemi, have created personal benefits through schemes with money intended for the community. All these details have been discovered by Bankers Petroleum itself and the company has filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office in this case.

Abuse of projects

The projects for the community of the Patos-Marinza area were such that the local government and residents should be involved in the economic and infrastructural development of the area. Seeing the large amounts of money circulating in these projects, the CEO of Bankers Petroleum at the time, appointed Mr. Adriatik Golemaj in 2015 to the position of Manager of the Community Relations Department. The two immediately implemented the money-grabbing scheme where in a single project the value of the damage reaches 400 thousand euros. To implement this scheme, a single contractor was used, who issued fictitious invoices covering from 60%-90% of the budget intended for the community. "In the last three years alone, this contractor has invoiced around 104 million lekë. Currently, Mr. Golemaj and other former managers of Bankers are already under investigation by the Fier Prosecutor's Office for abuse of office, theft by abuse of office, causing major economic damage to Bankers," it says in a public letter that Bankers Petroleum has sent to all state authorities in Albania.

Fraudulent scheme

“During his years of employment at Bankers, Mr. Çobo openly abused grants intended for community projects in the project area. The instrument used by Mr. Çobo was the CR Community Relations Department. The projects were such that both the local government and the residents of the area were involved in the economic and infrastructural development of the area,” says the public letter from Bankers Petroleum. The same document explains that Mr. Ariatik Golemaj, since 2015, transferred ownership of assets supposedly for the community, into the hands of his department, directly damaging the company. According to the report filed with the prosecutor's office, a single contractor was used for this scheme, who invoiced 103,858,799 lek over the last three years alone. "Currently, Mr. Golemaj and other managers of Bankers are under investigation by the Fier Prosecutor's Office for abuse of office, theft by abuse of office, causing major economic damage to Bankers," the public letter states. Meanwhile, sources from the Fier Prosecutor's Office claimed that investigations are continuing for the next few years to see how deep this fraudulent scheme extends.


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