Albania’s Special Prosecution Office (SPAK) has identified 11 additional suspects allegedly involved in an online investment fraud scheme that targeted thousands of German citizens and other Europeans, causing estimated losses of around €7 million.
The latest arrests follow an investigation launched in 2021 in cooperation with prosecutors in Bamberg, Germany. SPAK announced on Thursday that eight of the newly identified suspects had been placed under security measures, while three others have been declared wanted.
According to SPAK, three suspects have been remanded in custody, three have been placed under house arrest, and two have been ordered to report regularly to judicial police authorities.
The suspects are accused of computer fraud committed in cooperation as part of a structured criminal group, along with other offenses related to the establishment and operation of such a group.
Investigators allege that members of the scheme contacted German citizens and other Europeans and persuaded them to invest in international financial markets through platforms suspected of being fraudulent.
The funds were deposited into bank accounts in several countries, including Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland and Cyprus. The money was subsequently transferred through a series of accounts or converted into cryptocurrencies, according to SPAK.
The investigation also identified two IP addresses in Albania allegedly linked to the activities of the call center “Bluenergycall.”
SPAK said analysis of electronic data, combined with other material evidence, enabled investigators to identify additional suspects believed to have been involved in the criminal network.
The latest suspects were identified several years after prosecutors sent the owner and an IT specialist of the “Bluenergycall” call center to trial. They were subsequently sentenced to a combined total of around 13 years in prison, while assets worth approximately €2.3 million were confiscated.
The investigation was conducted in cooperation with German authorities and forms part of broader efforts by Albanian and European prosecutors to dismantle cross-border cybercrime networks targeting citizens through fraudulent online investment schemes.
SPAK warned in its 2025 report that cybercrime remains a growing concern for Albanian authorities. The prosecution office has identified cybercrime as one of the main areas in which Albanian criminal groups operate, alongside drug trafficking and human trafficking.
