Money laundering, how a company with one employee and no offices circulated 10 million euros in two years in Albania

A suspected money laundering scheme involving transfers of millions of euros from tax havens, companies with suspicious activities and individuals with unusual employment histories has been uncovered by the Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF).

According to the official report for 2024, an Albanian company has been put at the center of an investigation for fictitious circulation of funds and links to entities involved in gambling and suspicious international activities.

Company with one employee, but 10 million euros in turnover
The scheme began in December 2020, when citizen A founded company X, with the object of “consulting services”. Just a few days later, he sold his shares to a foreign citizen, B, but remained the company’s administrator. However, A continued to be the company’s sole employee throughout the period analyzed, even though, as the report reveals, he was simultaneously employed as a chef in a restaurant in Tirana.

During 2021-2022, company X benefited from over 10 million euros in international transfers originating mainly from the Cayman Islands, Panama, Gibraltar, Cyprus, Malta and Poland – countries often mentioned as tax havens. The transfers, described as “payment for services”, were ordered by companies involved in the gambling industry.

The money ended up in Latin America and in the hands of a third party.
According to the AIF report, about 80% of these funds were then transferred to another company, Z, registered in Latin America, through invoice payments. The rest was used to settle debts to third parties in Albania and abroad, or was withdrawn in cash by the company's proxy representative, citizen C.

After this massive movement of funds, company X's bank accounts were closed, which further strengthened the suspicion that this was a deliberate activity to circulate and hide the money.

An impossible activity for a company that doesn't even have an office
The investigation also brought to light some blatant contradictions. Company X had not declared any office equipment or IT machinery, except for Administrator A as an employee. However, in its tax documents it had declared sales equal to the value of the transfers – around 10 million euros – which raises serious questions about the real possibility of this activity.

The company had also changed its registered address several times to different cities in Albania, a practice that AIF considers common in cases of tax evasion.

Links to other companies and arrests
In March 2022, company X suspended its activity. After a year, the foreign shareholder sold its shares to Albanian citizen H, who resumed the activity for a few months, only to suspend it again in August 2023 and put it into liquidation. But the story does not end there. According to the AIF, H had followed the same scheme with another company, Y, which he created and immediately sold to another foreign citizen, connected to the same network as B.

In March 2024, citizen H and proxy C were arrested and are under investigation for money laundering. Criminal proceedings in this case were registered by the competent authorities after the case was referred by the Financial Intelligence Authority.

Investigations continue.
The case is considered by authorities to be one of the most sophisticated schemes recently uncovered in the country, involving shell companies, transfers from dubious jurisdictions and a network of connected individuals operating under an organized structure.

AIF has submitted all documentation for further investigation and investigations into this case continue in cooperation with international partners. / skyweb.al