Albania probes deeds for Kushner-backed coastal resort land
Anticorruption prosecutors are examining whether titles for protected coastal land sold for the project were forged, Reuters reported.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
Albania’s anticorruption prosecutors are investigating whether land deeds for a protected coastal site sold for a Jared Kushner-backed resort were falsified, Reuters reported, citing case files it reviewed. The inquiry adds a legal threat to a luxury development that Al Jazeera and Reuters reported has already drawn months of protests over environmental damage and alleged corruption.
The files were prepared by Albania’s Special Structure Against Corruption and Organised Crime, known as SPAK, according to Reuters. They identify Miami-based businessman Artur Shehu as the seller who transferred the land in April to Albania Land Development, the company behind the Kushner-linked plan.
SPAK alleges Shehu and associates used forged property titles to conceal proceeds from cocaine trafficking through Albanian real estate, Reuters reported. Prosecutors have frozen about 110 million euros, or $126m, connected to the transaction in a notary account, according to the report.
Shehu’s lawyer, Kujtim Cakrani, denied the allegations in comments to Reuters. Cakrani said Shehu was neither involved in drug trafficking nor in forging documents, and said his client legally sold land that his family had owned since the Ottoman period.
Cakrani also told Reuters that Shehu was not worried by an arrest warrant, saying prosecutors in Albania were widely believed to be influenced by political and business interests. He said Shehu went to the United States and received asylum in 1998 after gang violence killed his brother and uncle.
Reuters reported that the 200-page SPAK file had not previously been public. The document was issued on the same day SPAK announced separate arrest warrants for 20 people accused of narcotics trafficking and money laundering, according to Reuters.
Reuters said it found no evidence that Kushner, Sazan Real Estate Development or other resort backers knew of suspicions about Shehu when the land sale occurred. Kushner and Ivanka Trump have said the resort idea followed a view of the coastline from a yacht, and Kushner posted images of planned hotels, villas and marinas on social media in 2024, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.
The project is planned for wetlands and beaches on Albania’s southern coast, an area Al Jazeera and Reuters reported is habitat for sea turtles and flamingos. Protesters have used flamingos as a symbol in the campaign against the resort and against alleged government corruption.
Nightly demonstrations that began in May over the development have expanded into calls for Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. During a crackdown last week outside parliament, riot police used tear gas and water cannon; 15 officers were injured and 25 people were arrested, the outlets reported.
A Tirana court later freed 19 detained protesters, placed two under house arrest and ordered 12 others to report periodically to judicial police, Al Jazeera reported. One protester, Entela Koja, told Al Jazeera the movement opposed powerful interests treating Albania as a playground for wealthy people.
Residents near the site have also challenged Shehu’s ownership claim in court for about a decade, Al Jazeera reported. Nikolin Markpalaj, one of the landowners, told Al Jazeera that villagers had warned it would not be easy to take and use land they say belongs to them.
Rama’s government has rejected the protests as politically driven, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. It says the resort complies with Albanian and European Union law.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.