Cracks are forming in Edi Rama’s inner circle as Albania’s corruption scandal takes on new dimensions. Following the case of former Albanian State Intelligence Service (SHISH) chief Vlora Hyseni, Albanian media are now reporting that her successor is also under investigation — with alleged ties to businessman Ergis Agasi, who sits at the center of a major SPAK probe. According to Albanian newspaper SOT, investigators are examining a scheme in which the license plates of a SPAK prosecutor’s vehicle were allegedly cloned and fitted to another car, enabling Agasi to move around freely without being stopped at checkpoints.
Albania’s scandal: The vehicle with cloned prosecutor’s plates
The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SPAK) investigations into the leadership of the State Intelligence Service appear to have shaken the very foundations of national security, according to SOT, while allegations are emerging of senior SHISH officials being involved in criminal activities and espionage.
Through this investigation, SPAK has raised suspicions that intelligence agents placed state infrastructure at the service of organized crime.
According to the same source, Jurgen Kole, head of the service’s Operations Directorate, is also under investigation in connection with the same case. Albanian media link both officials to the license plate scheme, though no court ruling has yet been made public to formally substantiate these allegations.
According to the same reports, the alleged scheme would have facilitated Agasi’s movements in a vehicle bearing the outward characteristics of a SPAK prosecutor’s car, potentially allowing him to avoid police checkpoints altogether.
Journalist Arsen Rusta writes that subordinates carried out the orders of the former SHISH director and cloned the license plates of a Special Prosecutor’s Office vehicle, attaching them to a car identical to the one used by the prosecutor. The “cloned” vehicle was then handed over to Ergis Agasi, and the controversial businessman moved freely through Durrës and other cities — with police and other services believing that a SPAK prosecutor was traveling in the vehicle.
Where the real car was all along
In reality, the genuine vehicle was parked at SPAK’s premises, as the prosecutor was at his desk carrying out his duties. Meanwhile, there were indications that the cloned vehicle was circulating in Durrës and had even committed traffic violations.
According to journalist Arsen Rusta, who claims to have reviewed the case file, Ergis Agasi had equipped the vehicle with emergency lights, making it indistinguishable from the SPAK prosecutor’s car. Using the cloned license plate, an identical vehicle, and full signaling equipment, the wanted businessman drove through red lights and ignored traffic regulations — while authorities stood aside, believing a SPAK prosecutor was conducting an undercover operation and that the vehicle could not be stopped for inspection.
According to the report, the Skoda vehicle belonging to SHISH — used by Ms. Hyseni, Mr. Kole, and several other SHISH personnel — carried the license plate AB 5XX XX. At the same time, Democratic Party Secretary-General Flamur Noka publicly alleged that national security has fallen into the hands of organized crime.
The charges against Vlora Hyseni
The former SHISH chief is now under house arrest, with the case having sparked intense debate in Albania about the functioning of the security services and their relationship with SPAK’s special prosecution. Hyseni is under investigation for offenses related to aiding a criminal and disclosing classified acts or data. She has denied any wrongdoing and has offered her own account of her contacts with Agasi.
The case remains ongoing, and much of the information being reported by Albanian media derives from details related to the case file, none of which has yet been definitively confirmed by a court ruling.
The Russian agents connection
The same SOT report also references information from a Kosovo-based journalist, according to which Hyseni allegedly received orders from two Russian agents.
“Vlora Hyseni, together with associates including Fatmir Seholi and local agents in Kosovo, allegedly received instructions from these two Russians to place an American diplomat — and possibly a journalist from Kosovo — under surveillance. The specific names, which are alleged to be part of a broader Balkan conspiracy, had come to our attention through our own information channels a year ago, via an email marked ‘Confidential’.”
A Telegram channel reportedly published these classified documents. While the channel presents itself as controlled by the Iranian government, it is considered highly plausible that the documents were leaked by Ergis Agasi, having received them from Vlora Hyseni, the journalist writes.
SPAK’s investigation has grown far beyond its original scope, now touching on how intelligence services operate, the handling of classified data, and the relationships between state officials, businessmen, and individuals under judicial scrutiny.
Albania: A scandal with mafia involvement
At the heart of the scandal engulfing Albania is the National Agency for the Information Society (AKSHI). SHISH holds full oversight of this agency, which was headed by Vlora Hyseni from 2023. Hyseni was responsible for developing public sector information systems and digitization processes, while also overseeing the state’s public services portal, e-Albania.
The agency managed an enormous budget. Just 19 of its procurement procedures under SPAK investigation had a combined estimated value of 5.9 billion lekë — approximately €59 million.
According to the SPAK investigation, AKSHI director Mirlinda Karçanaj and her deputy Hava Delimhasi allegedly channeled a large portion of these funds to a group linked to organized crime, pre-selecting winners of public tenders and ensuring that tens of millions of euros were diverted to the accounts of IT businessmen Ermal Beqiraj and Ergis Agasi.
Agasi is accused of forming a criminal organization together with Beqiraj, with the aim of manipulating and extorting AKSHI tenders — even through the use of violence and hostage-taking.
Agasi was arrested on August 27, following months during which he evaded capture. Beqiraj had been arrested earlier in France on July 24, while flying a light aircraft through restricted airspace over a nuclear power plant.
Karçanaj, Delimhasi, and Agasi all deny the charges, while Beqiraj remains in French custody. SPAK alleges that he transferred a portion of his illicit earnings to France, using the funds to purchase a tower, two apartments, and vehicles, while depositing more than €2 million into bank accounts.
