The Special Prosecution Office against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) has completed its investigations and sent 12 people for trial, including the mayor of Kolonja, Erion Isai , accused of violations of public procurement procedures and abuse of office.
According to SPAK, the defendants are accused of several criminal offenses, including “Abuse of office”, “Violation of equality in tenders” and “Forgery of documents”.
The list of defendants, in addition to Isai, also includes:
Eljona Mydini, former deputy mayor of Kolonjë Municipality, accused of “abuse of office” in collaboration;
Ergys Verdho, former General Director of the Albanian Road Authority, accused of “abuse of office”;
Erald Elezi , former Director of Strategic Planning and Operations at the Albanian National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, accused of “abuse of office”;
Genti Raça, head of the preventive sector at the ARA, accused of “abuse of duty”;
Donika Shehu, former high-level specialist at the ARA, accused of “abuse of office”;
Klarita Konomi , former specialist at the ARA, accused of “violation of equality in tenders”;
Nikollaq Mihal , specialist at the ARA, accused of “violation of equality in tenders”;
Erdit Salillari, sector manager at the ARA, accused of “violation of equality in tenders”;
From the Municipality of Kolonjë: Erjon Cenko, Engjëll Dine and Ermal Zylfo, accused of “forgery of documents” and “violation of equality in tenders”; Armand Tafil, Muharrem Tartari and Shpëtim Liço , accused of “violation of equality in tenders”;
Entela Çano , administrator of the company “A&E Engineering” sh.pk, accused of “forgery of documents”.
INVESTIGATIONS
According to the prosecution, the investigations have shown that one of the main cases is related to the procurement procedure for the construction of the Korçë-Ersekë road, with a limit fund of around 2.8 billion lek.
According to SPAK, the Municipality of Kolonjë presented documentation as if it had a project for this road, while in reality there was none. Investigations have revealed that the project submission minutes were falsified by municipal employees in collaboration with the administrator of a private company.
It was also found that the limit fund was determined in violation of the law and based on data submitted by the interested party itself, which subsequently won the contract for supervision of the works.
The experts concluded that the tender fund was inflated by around 590 million lek, causing economic damage to the state.
“1. In relation to the procurement procedure with the object “Construction of the Korçë Ersekë road, Lot 2 (part one)”, with a limit fund of 2,879,999,858.89 (two billion eight hundred seventy-nine million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand eight hundred fifty and eight point eighty-nine) lek with VAT, developed by the Albanian Road Authority on 24.09.2020, it has resulted that:
In relation to the project presented as an initiative of the Municipality of Kolonjë, within the framework of the procedure followed for “Design service in the form of donation” with the object “Construction of Korçë-Ersekë road, Lot 2”, from the investigative actions and the evidence administered, it was found that the Municipality of Kolonjë did not have design documentation prepared by it for this object, although there are official correspondences with the Albanian Road Authority in which the opposite is stated.
From the evidence administered, supported also by the graphic examination of the writing and signing of the document, it has resulted that the working group of the Municipality of Kolonjë, composed of citizens Erjon Cenko, Engjëll Dine, in collaboration with the person who donated the project, citizen Entela Çano, administrator of the company “A& E Enginieering”sh.pk, have falsified the minutes of the project’s acceptance by the Municipality of Kolonjë, while it turns out that there was no project.
Regarding the determination of the limit fund for the procurement procedure, by citizens Ergys Verdho, in the capacity of the head of the contracting authority and other responsible persons of the Albanian Road Authority, citizens Erald Elezi, Genti Raça and Donika Shehu, it appears that the legal path for determining the limit fund was not followed.
At the time of drafting the final estimate, prepared by citizens Erald Elezi, Genti Raça, Donikë Shehu, a document also approved by the General Director of the Albanian Road Authority, citizen Ergys Verdho, it appears that there was no project drafted and proposed by the Municipality of Kolonjë, as presented as documentation formalized by the Municipality of Kolonjë.
The determination of the limit fund by the working group, the responsible persons of the Albanian Road Authority, citizens Erald Elezi, Genti Raça and Donika Shehu, was made on the basis of data prepared and manually submitted by the interested person herself, the citizen, Entela Çano, the administrator of the company “A & E Engineering” sh.pk, which subsequently won the contract for supervising the implementation of works for this object, the construction of the Korçë-Ersekë road, lot 2 (first part).
In preparing the estimate that also served to determine the limit fund of the contracting authority, citizens Ergys Verdho, in the capacity of the General Director of the Albanian Road Authority and other responsible persons, citizens Erald Elezi, Genti Raça and Donikë Shehu, acted in violation of Law No. 162/2020 “On Public Procurement”, Council of Ministers No. 914, dated 29.12.2014 “On the Approval of Public Procurement Rules”, as amended, Law No. 10296, dated 8.7.2010, “On Financial Management and Control”, as amended, Law No. 10164, dated 15.10.2009 “On the Albanian Road Authority”, Council of Ministers No. 276, dated 16.5.2018 “On the Approval of the Organization, Structure, Staff and Statute of the Albanian Road Authority”.
“From the evidence administered, supported by the technical, evaluative and accounting expertise, it has resulted that the fund determined by the contracting authority for this procurement procedure has been inflated to the value of 590,213,874 (five hundred and ninety million two hundred and thirteen thousand eight hundred and seventy-four) lekë, which also constitutes economic damage caused to the state,” SPAK’s announcement states.
Another investigative procedure is related to the tender for the supervision of works on this road , where members of the bid evaluation committee are suspected of having created unfair advantages for a certain company.
“2. The procurement procedure with the object: “Supervision of works for the construction of the Korçë-Ersekë road, lot 2 (first part)”, with a limit fund of 22,704,145 (twenty-two million seven hundred four thousand one hundred forty-five) lek including VAT, developed by the Albanian Road Authority on 14.10.2020, has resulted in:
Erdit Salillari, Klarita Konomi, Niko Mihali, in their capacity as members of the bid evaluation committee, acted in violation of Law No. 9643, dated 20.11.2006 “On Public Procurement”, as amended, and Council of Ministers No. 914, dated 29.12.2014 “On the Approval of Public Procurement Rules”, as amended, creating unfair advantages and privileges for the company of citizen Entela Çano, “A&E Engineering” sh.pk”, the announcement states.
Meanwhile, violations have also been found in another procedure for supervising water supply works in Ersekë and several surrounding villages.
According to SPAK, officials of the Municipality of Kolonjë, in collaboration with Mayor Erion Isai, have illegally determined the fund limit and tender criteria, favoring the winning entity.
Investigations show that the fund was calculated without a real market study, fictitious offers were used, technical specifications were drafted by the winning company itself, and the tender criteria were adapted for a predetermined subject.
“3. The procurement procedure with the object: “Supervision of Construction Works of the Ersekë Water Supply and Several Villages, Phase Two from the Kozel Springs”, with a limit fund of 4,623,021.7 lekë including VAT, developed by the Municipality of Kolonjë, developed on 06.10.2020, has resulted in:
In relation to the calculation of the limit fund and the drafting of technical specifications, citizens Muharem Tartari, Engjëll Dine, Ermal Zylfo, in their capacity as members of the commission for the calculation of the limit fund and the drafting of technical specifications, in cooperation with the head of the contracting authority, citizen Erion Isai, have acted in violation of Law No. 162/2020 “On Public Procurement”, as well as Council of Ministers No. 914, dated 29.12.2014 “On the Approval of Public Procurement Rules”, as amended, with the aim of favoring and creating unfair privileges for the winning company of this procurement procedure, the company “A&E Engineering” sh.pk
The members of the commission for calculating the limit fund and drafting the technical specifications, citizens Muharem Tartari, Engjëll Dine, Ermal Zylfo, based the calculation of the fund without conducting a real market study, relying on fictitious offers prepared by the winning company of this procurement procedure, the company “A&E Engineering” sh.pk. The technical specifications were prepared by the administrator of the company “A&E Engineering” sh.pk, citizen Entela Çano.
In relation to the drafting of the standard tender documents, the members of the procurement unit, citizens Armand Tafil, Erjon Cenko, Shpëtim Liço, in cooperation with the head of the contracting authority, citizen Erion Isai, have acted in violation of Law No. 162/2020 “On Public Procurement”, as well as Council of Ministers No. 914, dated 29.12.2014 “On the Approval of Public Procurement Rules”, as amended, with the aim of favoring and creating unfair privileges for the winning company of this procurement procedure, the company “A&E Engineering” sh.pk
The members of the procurement unit, citizens Armand Tafil, Erjon Cenko, Shpëtim Liço, in cooperation with the head of the contracting authority, citizen Erion Isai, have approved the standard tender documents by establishing criteria determined by the winning company of this procurement procedure, the company “A&E Engineering” sh.pk”, the announcement states.