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| Ervis Martinaj |
"There are some police officials who informed Martinaj. One of the directors of his company was the former General Director of Prisons in Albania".
This is what the journalist Flamur Vezaj said in an interview for "Euronews Albania", regarding the latest hints that the much-wanted Ervis Martinaj may have been kidnapped and executed.
According to Vezaj, police officials informed Ervis Martinaj, this is the reason why so many operations to capture and arrest him have failed.
"In financial terms, Ervis Martinaj is one of the people who have created or accumulated large incomes from betting, and gambling. In his salaries list, there were senior police officials for not infringing on his business. Even the last case of the arrest of officer Lami, was the person whom the Albanian state paid to check, observe and arrest the wanted persons, while he was accompanying Ervis Martinaj.
Who is Ervis Martinaj?
Ervis Martinaj is one of the most well-known people of the criminal world in Albania. He is considered one of the most dangerous people in Tirana, accused of murder and suspected of several serious events that shook the capital.
He was arrested for the incident on October 4, 2018 in the area of the former block, where he himself was injured while his friend, Fabjol Gaxha, was killed, and was released from prison after seven months, in May of 2019, by judge Artan Gjermeni, and a month later by the decision of the Court of Appeal that "sealed" his freedom against the property guarantee of 50 million leks. The trio of Appeal judges Flutura Skenderi, Gramoz Levanaj, and Artur Gaxha decided that Martinaj should continue to remain free during the investigation and trial phase of the case. Meanwhile, the prosecutor of the case had asked the court to assign the security measure "prison arrest".
In May 2019 Ervis Martinaj was released from detention "302" in Tirana as the prosecution is not able to keep him in solitary confinement for a long time because the accusation did not have enough evidence that would justify keeping Martinaj in a cell. This argument was given by judge Artan Gjermeni, who on May 3, 2019 decided to replace the security measure for Martinaj from "prison arrest" to his release against a financial guarantee of 50 million leks. For this event in April 2021, Ervis Martinaj was sentenced by the Court of Tirana to 3 years and 8 months of imprisonment, while there is still no decision in the Appeal.
In February 2020, Operation Law Enforcement seized his assets. Ervis Martinaj has been known in the field of gambling where he also had a casino "King Casino", founded in 2011, and in April 2012 he expanded the network with the sports betting company "Albania Baste Live". In 2013, a third gambling company was registered at Business Registration Center in Tirana in the name of the 36-year-old's mother, under the trade name "Eurovis", which is active, but no longer for sports betting but for other services.
Also, in the name of his father, a foreign exchange business "Mati Union" was established. While the casinos and the betting company were closed after the launch of the police operation "The End of Folly". At the height of this action, in October 2013, Martinaj was denounced for having threatened the head of the "Shqiponja" department in Tirana, after blocking about 400 gambling machines in a warehouse owned by him.
In March 2017, the protected witness Ylvi Beqja declared before the Court of Serious Crimes at that time that Ervis Martinaj had offered him 7 million euros to withdraw from testifying against Emiljano Shullazi. After his refusal, Beqja stated that Martinaj had threatened him. The prosecution stated that it had launched investigations into both cases, but Martinaj was not penalized for either.
Ervis Martinaj founded three gambling companies between 2011-2013, meanwhile, he was prosecuted in several cases for organizing unauthorized lotteries, in October 2013 and October 2014. In one of Ervis Martinaj's companies, "King Casino", suspended, there is also the name of one of the persons who, like Martinaj, was asked by Operation Force of Law to self-declare his wealth. Valentino Kaçorri, convicted in Italy for murder and arms trafficking, in this Martinaj company, was a member of the Supervisory Council at "King Casino", which has been closed for years.
Last May, Ervis Martinaj was declared wanted by the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime (Known locally as SPAK) after the testimony of the repentant who collaborated with the justice, Nuredin Dumani, who accused him of ordering the murder of Indri Dokle. Martinaj would pay 500 thousand euros to get rid of Dokle. Dumani told SPAK within the "Golden Bullet" file that he received an order from Martinaj to kill in exchange for the sum of 500,000 euros and that he received an advance of 100,000 euros.