€2.1mn stolen from Kosovo state treasury, one person detained

By bne IntelliNews October 22, 2020

Kosovo police said that €2.1mn has been stolen from the state treasury and one suspect has been arrested, while two others are still on the run.

The scandal took place after Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti dismissed three officials, the head of the police, as well as directors of Kosovo’s customs and the national tax agency, and dismantled the anti-corruption department in the police.

The money was transferred from the Treasury administered by the finance ministry to a private business through four suspicious transactions, Finance Minister Hykmete Bajrami said in the statement.

Police searched the houses of the suspects but found no traces of the stolen amount. However the police asked the authorities for the bank accounts of the suspects to be blocked.

Bajrami said that she had suspended the detained official, who worked in the ministry for 11 years, and his supervisor.

She underlined that this is an isolated case, and that the government’s budget is safe.

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