Reuters uncovers SPAK file: Suvenec property documents false suspicions

The businessman, Arthur Shehu, denies all charges against him, has declared his lawyer, Kujtim Cakran, who confirmed that the Albanian prosecution has issued an arrest warrant against Shehu for allegedly laundering money for drug trafficking groups.

The files on the case accuse Shehu and his associates of trafficking cocaine from South America towards European ports and then clearing up income by building an empire in the real estate sector, including through the use of counterfeit property documents.

Nothing about what Arthur Shehu claimed is true. He is neither a drug dealer nor a forger of property documents”, lawyer Cacran has said.

“Shehu is aware of claims filed by the Albanian prosecution. He does not consider such accusations to be based on him, for he insists that the truth is completely different from what the prosecution claims”.

An American Department of Justice spokesman refused to comment on whether American authorities have received any requests from Albania to locate or stop Shehu in Miami.

In April, Shehu sold the line to the Albanian coastline, where the construction of the resort is planned, the Albanian Land Development company, which is owned by the developers of the Kushner-backed project, Saban Real Estate Development, as well as by other investors.

“From the evidence collected creates reasonable doubts that the above-mentioned assets are obtained through the use of forged documents”, prosecutors write in the case files.

There is no claim in the file for legal violations against US President Donald Trump's groom, Jared Kouchner, the Sanzan Real Estate Development company, Albania Land Development or other investors involved in the resort project. Reuters found no indication that investors had been aware of allegations about Shehu at the time they bought the land from him.

Controversial Design in an Intangible Natural Zone

Claims that property documents may have been forged pose another obstacle to the project, which has already faced massive protests because of concerns that it could harm wildlife and the natural environment.

Residents of the village of Zvrinec, near the area where the resort is planned, for more than a decade, have been opposing Arthur Shehu's claim on land ownership in court.

Last month, a group of residents presented Reuters with property documents and tax records, which, according to them, testify that they are the legal owners of the land. Their lawyer, Kostadin Becko, said the issue still remains under trial and that they plan to ask the court to suspend the resort project.

The resort supported by Jared Kouchner is scheduled to be built along a coastline of beaches, forests, and a section that serves as habitats for turtles and flamingos.

Flagingos have become a symbol of the opponents of the project, who have been dubbed their protests “The Revolution of flamingos”.

Kouchner's wife, Ivanka Trump, has stated that the idea of building the resort was born when she and Kouchner saw this coastline from a yacht several years ago.

In 2024, Kouchner made public plans for the project on social networks, publishing an artistic illustration that featured the area covered with hotels, villas, pools. He has not made public the amount he has invested in this project.

The Albanian government has strongly supported plans for the resort and has declared that the protests are organised by its political opponents. Prime Minister Edi Rama told Reuters last month that the project is a beautiful “ ” and that it will be realised despite objections.

Asked about claims filed in investigative files on Arthur Shehu, a government spokesman said the government does not intervene in private transactions, but stressed that the project is being conducted in line with Albanian and European Union laws.

Earlier, Brussels has called on Albania, as a candidate country for membership in the European Union, to respect EU environmental regulations concerning the project.

Albanian Special Prosecutor Interventions

The investigative files against Arthur Shehu were prepared by the Special Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Framework Unit (SPAK), established in 2019 to fight corruption and organised crime, with investigators and prosecutors independent of police and the common prosecution.

The files contain about 200 pages and have not been made public. The files date June 12th 2026. That same day, the SPAK publicly announced that it has issued arrest warrants for 20 people, suspected of narcotics trafficking and clearing of revenue benefited from this criminal activity.

Unlike investigative files, where Arthur Shehu and other people are mentioned in full names, the notice of arrest warrants is identified only with initials, in line with the standard practice in Albania, under which the names of suspects are not made public before the charges are filed.

The initials used in the warrants match the full names of persons described in the investigative files, including a suspect identified as “A. S.”

Arthur Shehu's lawyer, Cakran, confirmed that his client is the subject of the investigation, said Shehu is not worried about the arrest warrant, as according to him, “is widely believed” that Albanian prosecutors operate under the influence of politicians and business figures.

Albanian living in Miami

SPAK documents say Shehu sold land for the resort project for about 110m euros, funds he has said ordered to be established.

Shehu and associates <x0 fit on earth using illegally acquired funds and forged property documents by creating false property titles or artificially increasing property size”, wrote SPAK in the file.

The projects were then transferred or exchanged so that they could not be easily traced by authorities”.

Lawyer Cakran said the Shehu family owned the land since the Ottoman Empire, and that Shehu had sold it in legal form.

Cakran has said Shehu had sought political asylum in the United States in 1998 osau “criminal gangs” had killed his brother in front of his eyes.