The mayor, Erion Veliayi, a member of Albania’s ruling Socialist Party, was arrested as a suspected and money laundering, the Prosecutor’s Office of Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) said.
SPAK also put home his wife, Ayola Joja, who runs a Tirana Cultural Foundation and is considered suspicious of the same categories.
Erion Veliayi, mayor of Tirana since 2015, is considered a prime minister, the president of the Socialist Party and a candidate for a third term in the elections in May.
The prosecutor’s office was conducting a preliminary investigation against the Mayor of Tirana and his wife, based on a complaint he received.
At the same time, prosecutors have ordered investigations against five businessmen who are suspected of “corruption of state officials or local officials”.
Former Albanian president, Ilir Meta, Edi Rama’s political opponent, on charges of corruption and money laundering, was arrested last October.
Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha is also accused of passive bribery as part of the privatization of a football stadium in the Albanian capital.
RES/EIA
