TIRANA, July 4, 2024 – Ilir Beqaj, Albania’s former minister of health who has a history of holding important position in the ruling Socialist Party, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of involvement in a corruption scheme to profit from funds from the Agency for the Coordination of Foreign Aid and EU Programs during his time as the agency’s head.
Beqaj’s arrest was made public by the Special Prosecution against Organized Crime and Corruption, SPAK, which ordered his arrest..
A controversial member of the government cabinet during Prime Minister Edi Rama’s first term in office, Beqaj has also been under several corruption investigations over the years.
He has also been a perennial target of the political opposition on what it says were massive corruption scandals that cost taxpayers millions in concessions granted during the time Beqaj led the Ministry of Health.
Together with Beqaj, SPAK also issued arrest warrants for four of Mr. Beqaj’s associates, two of whom are to be held in jail and two under house arrest.
Mr. Beqaj was appointed head of the agency in charge of managing EU funds for Albania in 2021, despite corruption suspicions raised against him regarding concession processes in healthcare when he was minister.
In November of last year, he resigned after being subjected to the security measures of “obligation to appear” and “prohibition from leaving the country” as part of the investigations into the sterilization of surgical equipment.
In that investigation, former Deputy Minister of Health Klodian Rrjepaj and entrepreneur Ilir Rrapaj, who owned 40 percent of the shares in the company that won the concession, were previously arrested.
In March of this year, Mr. Beqaj was charged with “abuse of office” for that concession
Earlier, in December of last year, justice authorities conducted a search of Mr. Beqaj’s residence as part of a new investigation into the misuse of funds from the Eusair program (European Union Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region), coordinated by a person closely linked to Mr. Beqaj.
According to investigations, in the name of this program, fictitious invoices worth several thousand euros were requested and obtained for unperformed services “by placing fictitious values in invoicing for material gain purposes, and engaging in corrupt actions for profit.”
