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Appeal Arguments/ How Monika Kryemadhi's mother's villa was removed from sequestration
2026-01-11 14:05:04 / POLITIKË
A month after the arrest of former President Ilir Meta on charges of corruption and money laundering, the Special Court decided in November 2024 the preventive seizure of two villas in the "Kodra e Diellit" residential area in Tirana.
The villas were owned by Monika Kryemadhi and her mother, Fatime Kryemadhi – also defendants in the same criminal proceedings as Meta. According to the reasoning of the Special Court of First Instance, the villas were seized on the basis of Article 36 of the Criminal Code as assets that “arise or are acquired directly or indirectly from the commission of a criminal offense, as well as any other assets, the value of which corresponds to that of the proceeds of the criminal offense”.
In December 2024, the Special Court of Appeals reversed the first instance decision, releasing one of the villas owned by Fatime Kryemadhi from seizure. The decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court.
Former President Ilir Meta, currently the leader of the Freedom Party, has been in custody since October 21, 2024, on criminal charges of corruption and money laundering, while his ex-wife, Monika Kryemadhi, and her mother are being investigated at large. Meta and Kryemadhi have denied the charges and have considered the investigation to be political. The case was sent for trial on August 29, but the court has not yet ruled on whether or not to proceed to trial on the merits, as the hearings have been postponed.
According to the summary of the reasoning of the Special Court of Appeal, which BIRN obtained through a right to information request, the two villas subject to seizure owned by Fatime and Monika Kryemadhi were obtained through exchange contracts concluded with a company that built on the land they owned, being assessed as assets with legal sources.
Therefore, the judicial reasoning focused on the concept of equivalent seizure – a term that according to the Criminal Code means the blocking of a value equal to the proceeds of the criminal offense.
According to the court's decision, Fatime Kryemadhi is suspected of having assisted Meta and Kryemadhi in the money laundering charges, by investing 846 thousand euros in the purchase of apartments on their behalf, apartments which were later sold.
Monika and Fatime Kryemadhi claimed in their appeal that in their case, the conditions for imposing preventive seizure on the two villas were lacking, as well as that the reasoning of the decision, as one of the elements of due process, was lacking. They claimed that even in the case of preventive seizure, it must be proven that the item served, was destined for or constitutes the proceeds of a criminal offense.
Appeals Judge Igerta Hysi notes that the legislator has recognized in the criminal procedural law three types of seizures, in support of criminal proceedings, which are distinguished by their name and the purposes they pursue. She further argues that equivalent or equivalent confiscation is essentially sanctioning, as it aims to seize assets with a value equal to the amount of corruption ascertained.
Judge Hysi also assesses that the methodology followed by SPAK to determine the value of the two seized villas is not fair and legal. According to her, the value determined in the purchase contracts of objects similar to the seized villas represents the price freely agreed upon between the contractual parties, which does not necessarily correspond to the real value of the property subject to the contract.
The appeal notes that the two villas derive from a legal source, and for this reason the prosecution must show special care in verifying the value of this property, by carrying it out with experts in the field, at the value it has at the moment of determining the measure.
Judge Hysi considers that, based on a realistic assessment of the defendant Monika Kryemadhi's assets, the application of the preventive seizure measure on her mother's assets may be inappropriate. According to the court, only the equivalent seizure of Monika Kryemadhi's villa is capable of fulfilling the legislator's goals of guaranteeing the receipt of the proceeds of the criminal offense committed by her.
"Through equivalent seizure, the legislator aims to confiscate lawful property in exchange for the value of the proceeds of the criminal offense, and therefore requires that the seizure measure be limited only to the value of the product, i.e. not to exceed this value. The legislator's intention in this case is to ensure the recovery of the value of the proceeds of the criminal offense from the one who has been unjustly enriched," Hysi reasons.
Given the fact that a higher value of the proceeds of the criminal offense of laundering than that of the main crime is not proven, as well as in the absence of any benefit or economic advantage from Fatime Kryemadhi, the Special Court of Appeals assessed that the equivalent seizure of the villa owned by her is not appropriate.
In conclusion, based on these reasoning, Judge Hysi decided to uphold the First Instance decision regarding the seizure of Monika Kryemadhi's villa and released the apartment of her mother, Fatime Kryemadhi, from preventive seizure./ BIRN
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