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By Habjon Hasani<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Intro:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This long-form info-analysis attempts to explore the circumstances and motives behind the arrests of key (former) executives of the Bankers Petroleum corporation. The article is structured into two chapters. The first examines the criminal case file at the Fier District Prosecution Office, while the second ventures into a deeper inquiry into the hidden motives behind the current developments.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Chapter 1: The Ground Boils in Fier<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Around 2010, when the Energy sector was under the command of Ilir Meta and the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI), a convoy of five SUVs stopped in front of the \u201cSky Tower\u201d in Tirana. The convoy belonged to a so-called \u201cstrongman\u201d from Fier. He was waiting for businessman Rezart Ta\u00e7i to come down from his office. They were rivals, competing over a tender for approximately 70,000 tons of oil that Albpetrol had put out to auction. This was oil that Albpetrol received through a production-sharing agreement with Bankers Petroleum.<\/span><\/p>\n At the time, the main bidders were Rezart Ta\u00e7i\u2014perceived to be connected to then-Prime Minister Sali Berisha\u2014and a local group operating on behalf of the Energy Minister Ilir Meta. The convoy was not there to fight\u2014it came only to deliver a direct message:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou might win the tender. But you won\u2019t enjoy it\u2014you won\u2019t set foot in Fier.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Political negotiators soon got involved, and eventually the local group was awarded the highly-contested tender. That moment perhaps marked one of the clearest signals of the hydrocarbon sector\u2019s decay. What was once the pride of Fier\u2019s engineering and managerial elite had begun operating with the same mentality as the heroin trade\u2014brutal, cynical, and utterly degenerate.<\/span><\/p>\n But the farce didn\u2019t end there. The \u201cicing on the cake\u201d came shortly after.<\/span><\/p>\n Following the group\u2019s victory, a celebratory dinner (grilled meat in clay pots, of course) was organized\u2014not just with operatives and lieutenants in attendance, but also the local prosecutor of Fier, a senior judge, local political figures, and directors. At the start of the feast, the ringleader gave a short toast, with a hint of street jargon:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been fools. We\u2019ve risked our asses with drugs all over Europe chasing paradise. Paradise has been right beneath our feet all along\u2014and we didn\u2019t even know it. Cheers.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCheers, enjoy it,\u201d<\/em> responded the prosecutor, the judge, and the political figures in unison.<\/span><\/p>\n Fifteen years later, little has changed in the climate and mentality of the city\u2019s elite. Thus, it\u2019s hard to believe that a criminal investigation into Bankers Petroleum could originate from the initiative of a junior prosecutor with just three years of experience, or a rookie judge. Logic dictates that this case file has powerful patrons behind it\u2014well beyond the local scale.<\/span><\/p>\n Hashtag.al<\/strong> has reviewed the full prosecution file, including phone transcripts and annexes. The investigation began rapidly in February 2025. By March, wiretaps were authorized\u2014right at the peak of the electoral campaign. Meanwhile,<\/span><\/p>\n Minister Belinda Balluku, the ruling party\u2019s political enforcer, had already moved to Fier, compiling a list of every business with significant employment and budgets\u2014to be \u201cmobilized\u201d for campaign support.<\/span><\/p>\n The initial lead for prosecutors came from the General Director of Taxation, a former prosecutor himself and a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Ms. Balluku.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A deep dive into the file reveals the following core elements:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 1.Leonidha \u00c7obo, former director of Bankers, is accused of favoring a company called TEA&CO, owned by his sister-in-law, through inflated subcontracting deals. He appears in phone conversations with CFO Ardit Kero in March 2025, where banking matters are discussed. The conversations suggest that the two may have been conducting indirect business. However, the file fails to demonstrate how any laws were broken. Doing business, after all, is not a crime\u2014it\u2019s a goal.<\/span><\/p>\n 2.CEO Xingyu Sun (China) is said to have fabricated invoices from shell companies to inflate costs and commit fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n 3.Several legal or consulting firms\u2014headed by Alket Hyseni, Eduart Halimi, and Besnik \u00c7erekja\u2014are accused of receiving substantial payments for allegedly fictitious services.<\/span><\/p>\n 4.Wiretaps include conversations within the Bankers Petroleum finance and marketing departments, where staff are heard negotiating ad placements and influence with TV Klan and Top Channel. The file never explains what crime this might constitute. Still, Lori Hoxha, owner of Top Channel, is directly mentioned by name (by Bankers staff), while the prosecutor \u201ccan\u2019t recall\u201d the name of the Klan TV owner. This inclusion of both TV entities in the criminal file seems to function as a coded warning\u2014a signal for these outlets to stay away from the story. Classic intimidation by inclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n Wiretaps seem to be the only concrete step taken by prosecutors, while the rest of the case appears to have been compiled\u2014loosely\u2014by the tax authorities. At least, as far as anything here can be called \u201ccompiled.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The case\u2019s underlying logic is overwhelmingly fiscal, not legal. It rests on the assumption that Leonidha \u00c7obo subcontracted TEA&CO\u2014a company run by his in-laws\u2014for several hydrocarbon operations. And since the firm was run by family members, fiscal inspectors have classified it as a fraudulent and corrupt scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n But this claim comes with multiple problems:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 Leonidha \u00c7obo had already been accused of this by the Chinese shareholders years ago\u2014and he won the case in every court in Albania.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 The same allegations were even raised by the Albanian state in international arbitration, but the ruling exposed some crucial details.<\/span><\/p>\n First, the arbitral tribunal found that subcontracting required board approval, and unless it could be proven that the project was compromised, there could be no de jure or de facto conflict of interest between two private parties.<\/span><\/p>\n More importantly, the tribunal uncovered a clause in the hydrocarbon agreement that mandated Albpetrol to have a permanent representative scanning all subcontractors, with the explicit right of veto.<\/span><\/p>\n However, the arbitration ruling states in black and white that Albpetrol voluntarily waived this veto power, by never sending its representative.<\/span><\/p>\n And that alone is enough to render the matter non-justiciable\u2014not even fit for judicial review.<\/span><\/p>\n Nevertheless, the case file is constructed as if none of this context exists. It operates entirely through Excel logic\u2014numbers, charts, invoices\u2014completely ignoring both domestic court decisions and the legally binding arbitration ruling.<\/span><\/p>\n The absurdity reaches its peak when prosecutors flag Leonidha \u00c7obo\u2019s salary as suspiciously high. But at no point does the file explain:<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 Was \u00c7obo\u2019s salary higher than that of the American CEO before him?<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 Is there a legal framework that defines what a CEO of a hydrocarbon corporation should earn?<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 Where is this cap defined? In which contract or legislation?<\/span><\/p>\n \u2013 Are there any comparisons made with other CEOs in Southeast Europe?<\/span><\/p>\n A tax inspector, it seems, simply scribbled in the case file:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like Loni\u2019s salary.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Maybe he found it high compared to his own.<\/span><\/p>\n A pretty bold legal theory to send a man to jail.<\/span><\/p>\n This fiscalist mindset continues with the naming of law firms like Alket Hyseni\u2019s, Eduart Halimi\u2019s, and Besnik \u00c7erekja\u2019s. The file highlights millions of dollars in fees collected over decades. Pro-government media focus on Halimi and \u00c7erekja; opposition outlets attack Hyseni. Everyone gets a piece.<\/span><\/p>\n
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