Ten months ago Kronen Zeitung, one of the largest Austrian news media, published an article in which, according to an Albanian witness who took refuge in Austria, Ilir Meta was described as fundamentally corrupt.
The article among other things, cited documents obtained by the US Department of Justice, about Ilir Meta and Monika Kryemadhi’s lobbying in Washington over the years.
The newspaper also referred to a payment of 700,000 dollars made in 2016 and early 2017 through the company Dorelita Limited, registered in Cyprus. According to the contract submitted to the Department of Justice, its purpose was to protect the interests of persons and clients of the Cypriot company, which was represented by lawyer Iraklis Fidetzis, a suspected acquaintance of Vangjel Tavo, the former deputy of the SMI party (LSI) in the district of
Gjirokastra. The documents show that about 700 thousand dollars were paid to the company McKeon Group.
90 thousand dollars were paid by lawyer Iraklis Fidetzis, while another 600 thousand were paid again by Fidetzis, but through the “Dorelita Limited” company. The unanswered question in the Austrian media article was the source of this money. Suspicions were raised on two tracks, either that they are corruption money, or funding from third countries as part of their campaign for influence in the Balkans.
But the answer was apparently given by the article of Eu Reporter, the media founded in 2001 based in Brussels. In an article this Wednesday, Eu Reporter brings documents obtained by American intelligence, which show Monika Kryemadhi’s monetary transactions with shell companies registered in tax havens.
The payments were received by the offshore company Holdem Holdings, which is controlled by Russian oil oligarchs Alexander Smizukov and Alexander Kaplan.
Monika Kryemadhi is suspected of being a shareholder in the offshore company controlled by the Russians, as the payment slip states that the sum of 13,500 euros was received as ‘a dividend for the shareholder’. Kryemadhi also made a payment to an offshore company, Vradus Holdings, which was controlled by Vitaly Savvin, a Russian oil oligarch who, as revealed by Forbes magazine, was one of Putin’s biggest donors.
EuReporter’s investigation raises suspicions that the two companies in question registered in tax havens, have no activity but serve as a cover, in this case to distribute Russian money to corrupt politicians in Eastern Europe as part of Moscow’s strategy to increase its influence in these countries.
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