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| Stephan Morgenstem in the Court in Tirana |
The Tirana Court ordered indefinite imprisonment for the German citizen Stephan Morgenstem, sought by South Korea and several other states for a 28 million euro fraud scheme.
Through his lawyer Maks Haxhia, the 61-year-old requested release on bail for the amount of 2 million new Albanian lek, but the request was denied by Judge Gerd Hoxha, local media say.
Defender Maks Haxhia stated that despite his client having accomplices, no Korean citizen has been arrested so far. The lawyer sought the release of the 61-year-old from custody, as according to him, our country does not have an extradition agreement with South Korea, which has issued an international warrant for his arrest.
According to investigations, in January of this year, the 61-year-old German also purchased a villa on the outskirts of Tirana in Albania, which he registered in the name of his wife, shedding light on the money transfers he made to our country.
The arrest of the wanted individual at Rinas Airport by the FAST unit, as Stephan Morgenstem was waiting for his wife arriving from Dubai to Tirana, was announced on August 21, 2023. In October of last year, the Seoul Court in South Korea issued a "Prison Arrest" order for the 61-year-old for the criminal offense of "Serious Fraud".
The fugitive entered Albania in May of this year from Greece by bus, through the Kakavija border crossing. The 61-year-old seems to have evaded controls due to the volume of traffic, while it is learned that he is equipped with a diplomatic passport from the state of Gambia.
During the period from March 27, 2016, to November 7, 2020, he and his accomplices are accused of defrauding 2156 individuals, causing a total monetary loss of 40,703,930,904 KRW (South Korean currency) or about 28,000,000 euros.