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| Adriatik Llalla |
Former General Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla - whose assets are under sequestration after being under investigation for money laundering - hired two New York lobbyists to oppose the State Department's decision that declared him a "non-grata persona" in the US .
Michael Gibaldi is a graduate lawyer 'summa cum laude' of Pennsylvania and Harvard University and specializes in focusing on criminal, administrative, and complex business trials. His chief Michael Tremonte is a former prosecutor and lawyer - partner and founder of the 'Sher Tremonte LLP' legal studio.With offices in Broad Street, Manhattan - the New York financial district center, Sher Tremonte LLP is a law firm specializing in the representation of companies in complex trade conflicts as well as legal problems related to the so-called white collars'.
On March 4, Sher Tremonte - represented by two lawyers, Gibaldi and Tremonte is registered at the US House of Representatives as a lobbying company for the former Albanian former General Prosecutor Adriatik Llalla.
According to the CIR registration form, a copy of which was provided by BIRN, the purpose of the lobbying activities undertaken by Sher Tremonte on behalf of the former Albanian Prosecutor in the US relates to the State Department's decision of declaring Llalla and his family non-grate persons.
"The abolition of the State Department's decision of February 14, 2018, to list Adriatik Llalla and his closest family as inadequate for entry to the United States." is described as the specific purpose of lobbying activities.
Llalla was declared persona non grata by the State Department a year ago, with the motivation of significant involvement in corruption. In addition to Llalla, another company is listed in lobbying activities in the amount of more than $ 5,000, a New Jersey company, called 'Lita Brothers Construction' - owned by the family members of the mayor of city of Kamza, Korab Lita.
The total amount paid by Llalla and the company "Lita Brothers Construction" for lobbying activities remains unclear.
Contacted by BIRN by phone, Llalla did not answered to a comment request. Even the lobbyists Gibaldi and Tremonte did not responded to a BIRN request for comment via email.
Meanwhile, the deputy mayor of Kamza Korab Lita told BIRN that he was not related to Llalla's lobbying efforts in the US.
"I live in Albania and I have no connection at all," Lita said cautiously.
Adriatik Llalla was elected General Prosecutor in 2012 and held the post until November 2017 when he was 5 years old and was replaced by the Provisional General Prosecutor Arta Marku.
During his mandate at the helm of the General Prosecution, Llalla faced charges of poor work in the fight against crime and corruption, while there was also a public clash with the former US Ambassador to Tirana, Donald Lu, divided by their views on Justice Reform.
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| Donald Lu and Adriatik Llalla |
American law provides that in cases where there is reliable information that foreign officials are involved in major corruption or serious human rights violations, these individuals and their close family are prohibited from entering the United States.
The Secretary of State has the right to sanction these individuals and their families privately or to make them public, as was the case with Mr. Llala. In addition to Lalla, the verdict sanctions the entry into America for his wife Ardiana Llalla, his daughter Eni Llalla and another child who has no US citizenship.
But it appears that the former prosecutor disagreed with the decision taken by the US State Department, and hired a law firm - Sher Tremonte LLP.
Law Firm Sher Tremonte LLP is not a classic lobbying company. However, at the US Congress, the lawyers Gibaldi and Tremonte are known as two lawyers who have assisted during the interview at the Senate the Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin.
According to the US media, Akhmetshin was a Soviet counterintelligence agent and linked to a US lobbying campaign to abolish the so-called Magnitsky law. This law, adopted by the US Congress in 2012, aims to sanction the persons related to the death of the Russian accountant in Moscow prison, Sergei Magnitsky.
Seems there is no connection between Llalla and Akhmeteshin, except the fact that both parties have employed the same lawyers to assist with their legal problems in the US.
The company 'Lita Brothers Construction' was registered in the US in 2005 at Cliffside Park, New Jersey on behalf of Bedri Lita. Presently the company is headquartered in 378 South Washington Avenue, Bergenfield.
Bedri is the brother of Korab Lita, deputy mayor of Kamza municipality. The Korab Lita brothers, emigrants from many years in the US, are active in the Albanian-American community. Attempts to contact the company 'Lita Brothers Construction' through the phone turned out to be unsuccessful, while their connection with former prosecutor Adriatik Llalla remains unclear.
Investigations on Llalla
By the time Adriatik Llalla makes efforts through lobbyists in the US to remove his name from the blacklist of the State Department, he is being investigated in Albania on suspicion of being involved in a money laundering scheme.
The charge against Llalla includes the criminal offenses of "refusal of declaration, non-declaration, concealment or false declaration of property, private interests of elected officials and public servants", "non-declaration of monetary amounts at the border", "cleansing of offense products" and "power abuse".
In July 2018, the Serious Crimes Court, upon the prosecution's request, seized the properties of the former General Prosecutor. In a press release, the Serious Crimes Prosecution announced that Llalla 67-square-meters apartment in Durres and four land parcels with a total area of about 22 thousand square meters are sequestrated.
"As a result of the investigative actions committed, reasonable doubts have arisen that some of the property owned by the citizen Adriatic Llalla is a product of the criminal offense," the prosecution said.
The investigation into Llalla was initially registered by the Durres Prosecutor's Office on March 15, 2018 under the charge of hiding property, abuse of office and money laundering.
A previous BIRN investigation showed of how Llalla transformed an initial investment of 16.3 million lek into property worth over 1 million euros through transactions with a convicted person for murde.
The documents provided by BIRN indicate that Adriatik Llalla bought four land parcels with a total area of 22 thousand square meters between December 2016 and May 2017. The four contracts cost 14.8 million lek in total to the former chief prosecutor at a price ranging from 600 to 1 thousand lek per square meter. Shortly after the acquisition, Llalla included these lands in the revaluation process and according to the reference prices, their total value increased by 6 times, reaching to 93.7 million lek.
Llalla pretends is not guilty to charges. However, after almost a year and a half without working and his sequestrated assets by the Prosecution, remains unclear of with what financial means he pays the American law firm Sher Tremonte LLP.