Albania's specialized prosecutor's office against corruption and organized crime is investigating a massive property fraud linked to a planned luxury resort by US investor Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law. According to official court documents reviewed by Reuters, businessman Artur Shehu is suspected of using forged title deeds and artificially inflating the size of the plots. In April this year, the Miami-based developer sold protected coastal land in the Zvarnetsk area to a local company operating Kushner's project. Prosecutors have now frozen around 110 million euros in the account of the notary who made the deal to prevent Shehu from receiving the money.
Investigative authorities in Tirana are also linking the case to a wider international drug trafficking and money laundering case, for which an arrest warrant has been issued for Shehu. His lawyer has denied the charges and told the media that the land has been in the family's possession since the Ottoman Empire and that the prosecution's actions are politically motivated. A spokesman for the company representing the American investors stressed that they are not a party to the investigation and believe the purchase was made completely legally. The project has already sparked mass street protests in Albania over environmental risks, but Prime Minister Edi Rama has said that foreign investment will not be stopped.