Governor of the Bank of Albania arrested following the theft scandal of 713 mln us dollars from his own bank

September 6, 2014 – Police arrested the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Ardian Fullani and Chief Inspector Elivar Golem, accused earlier of “abuse of duty” by the General Prosecution Office.

Ardian Fullani was arrested at the main main premises of the Bank of Albania, in “Avni Rrustemi” st., while after the arrest he was sent in the headquarters of Police of Tirana District. The arrest follows the theft scandal of ALL 713 billion from the Bank treasury, while Fullani is being charged with “abuse of office”. The arrest comes after the testimony given today by Ermelinda Meksi and Ela Golemi, a member of the Supervisory Board and former Chief Inspector. The number of those arrested reaches to 19.
Immediately after the arrest, Fullani’s lawyer, Mr. Maks Haxhia attempted to meet and consult with his client.
In a statement to the media, he expressed his irritation for how police arrested the Central’s Bank governor. According to the lawyer, he still has no information if it is an arrest or a detention. “Once a person detained or arrested, he has the right to call a lawyer. I presented my ID card and introduced myself and asked to meet him, but I could not”, he said.

The arrest of the Bank of Albania Governor follows after two months of protests by citizens, civil society and media outlets. Some MPs also backed the option of him being charged by the Prosecution.  Center for Public Information issues took firm positions and facilitate media investigation on the issue with raw materials, documents and analyses.

The Fullani’s arrest is seen by the general public as a positive sign towards seriously challenging the culture of impunity in Albania, especially among high ranking officials.