Companies established within a single day—some entirely “phantom”, others sharing the same addresses, mostly rented apartments—with Italian owners who found willing “partners” in Albania to withdraw money on their behalf. This scheme was created by a network of individuals to extract millions of euros from so-called Call Center companies.
The scheme was uncovered through investigations conducted by the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office following alerts about suspicious transactions carried out during 2019. Through 24 newly established companies, the group of “businessmen” orchestrated a tax evasion scheme amounting to €5.8 million, defrauding Albanian authorities.
Citizens of European countries were contacted by phone and persuaded to invest in cryptocurrencies or fictional markets displayed through fake online platforms.
In April 2024, the Tirana Court found the Italian perpetrators guilty and sentenced each to 9 years in prison, but reports indicate that none of them actually ended up behind bars.
Documents reveal that at the beginning of the criminal scheme involving the Italian-owned companies under investigation, a well-known name to the justice system, Amant Josifi, was also involved.
An OCCRP investigation revealed that the former political advisor to Olta Xhaçka was part of the Milton Group network of companies, which operated call centers that scammed thousands of people in Spain and other EU countries, fraudulently obtaining tens of millions of euros.
The journalists’ findings led to Europol investigations, and in October-November 2022, Albania’s Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Structure (SPAK) raided six call centers linked to Milton Group. Four individuals were arrested, but Amant Josifi was not found. He was later declared wanted by authorities for his alleged involvement in the fraudulent scheme.
The “Investors” from Italy
In the sweltering heat of late August 2018, two 25-year-olds from Tirana agreed to sell their company to an Italian entrepreneur named Maurizio Giacalone, a foreign businessman who had been operating in Albania’s telemarketing and call center industry for a few years.
Through a simple contract, Jusel Mici and Mendim Domi sold their five-month-old company, “VibeMedia,” to Maurizio Giacalone for just 100 lekë. Following this transaction, the two young men went on to establish eight more companies, all registered for call center operations.
In this “business venture,” Mici’s 22-year-old cousin, Ismaili, also became involved, sharing ownership stakes with them in four telemarketing companies.
The two young men also ventured into the construction sector: Mici engaged in the trade of construction materials with “Edil Services,” while Domi entered the construction business with his company “N.M-09.”
They transformed into businessmen, but later prosecutorial investigations revealed that they were actually collaborators in companies created by Italian nationals.
The 2023 investigation uncovered that the scheme directly benefited Maurizio Giacalone and at least seven other Italians with origins or residency in Palermo.
Domi, Mici, and their Italian “associates” are suspected of having established 24 companies, primarily operating in telemarketing and call center services.
Through the companies established in Albania, they are suspected of defrauding citizens of EU countries, who were contacted by phone and persuaded to invest in cryptocurrencies or fictional markets displayed on fake online platforms.
After securing the investments, the group would cut off all contact with the clients.
The monetary funds were funneled through the accounts of fictitious companies and later withdrawn in cash by their administrators.
The group circulated approximately €5.8 million, evading tax declarations to Albanian authorities.
“Deceived” Albanians
“I felt deceived by these individuals because, at one point, they turned off their phones and cut off all contact with me. They disappeared from my life suddenly,” testified Ismail Mici in another court case held in April 2022 involving a similar Italian-run fraud scheme.
He admitted before the judges that he withdrew money from banks after every phone call he received from his “bosses”.
Mici was involved in withdrawing over €1.5 million, having been promised a well-paying job by the Italians in exchange for his cooperation.
Mici testified that he did not receive a single cent and that he handed over the money to another Italian in Tirana.
“I gave every withdrawal to Salvatore (S. Solazzo, who was also sentenced in absentia to 5 years in prison) through a person named Andrea,” Mici recounted.
He described the money recipient as a man in his 30s, about 175 cm tall, whom the Italians referred to as “The Economist.”
According to Mici, “he always carried a laptop with him.”
Employed on behalf of Italian-owned companies, in addition to Mici, were also his cousin Juseli and their friend Mendim Domi. Today, they are the only ones facing justice and risk being sentenced to prison.
Even though they were accused of profiting millions of euros, a financial investigation revealed that they only owned: A house under legalization process in Vorë (85 m²). Two family apartments in Tirana (62 m² and 72 m²). Two cars: a 2006 Volkswagen Passat and a Fiat Bravo, with a combined estimated value of 360,000 lekë.
Mici and Domi are not the only Albanians facing justice. Since 2021, Albanian authorities have carried out more than ten operations against schemes involving “call centers.” According to police reports, around 170 individuals have been prosecuted, mostly administrators or employees working as operators, programmers, or in IT roles.
Ilir Xhemalaj, president of the National Union of Telephone Operators (SKOT), believes that the real beneficiaries of the “fraud factories” have not faced justice.
“Primarily, the authorities’ arrests have been limited to employees. I have not seen any owners being arrested… For me and for us as a union, the arrest and strict measures against employees are unacceptable,” says Xhemalaj.
At the end of 2022, Albanian authorities, in coordination with foreign agencies, raided the offices of several call centers in an operation aimed at capturing a group of 10 suspects involved in computer fraud.
The operation was partially successful, as six of the wanted individuals were not found in Albania. Of the four who were arrested, two were detained on behalf of Spanish authorities.
The police arrested programmers Irisa Puca and Adrian Korriku, along with administrators Bernardo Saraçaj and Erindi Pysqyli.
However, the operation caused a stir as it implicated former advisor to the Rama government, Amant Josifi, who was suspected of ties to the so-called criminal organization “Milton Group.”
In September 2023, he was detained in the United Arab Emirates on behalf of Spanish authorities and is awaiting extradition there.
“Milton Group” is believed to have coordinated the operations of dozens of fraudulent call centers based in Georgia, Ukraine, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Albania. These call centers scammed thousands of Europeans through fake online investment schemes, extracting tens of millions of euros.
Josifi’s Tracks
The companies created by Domi and Mici were not the only ones that the Italian, Giacalone, purchased in Albania. Through minimal transaction values, around 10,000 lekë, he also acquired three other companies, whose owners appeared to have influence in this market at the time.
First, Giacalone purchased the company “Verbal Contact Center,” whose shares had previously been bought and sold by Amant Josifi. Later, he acquired the company “AKE Italia,” which belonged to Josifi’s business partner.
“Verbal Contact Center,” founded in January 2013 by Stefano Cusenza, has been placed under seizure by the prosecution.
The company’s offices are registered on the second floor of a building on Rruga e Durrësit.
A year after its creation, in May 2014, Stefano Cusenza sold a portion of the shares to a 26-year-old named Amant Josifi. A few years later, his former business partner would go on to serve as an advisor to the Minister of Defense, Olta Xhaçka. An OCCRP investigation revealed that Josifi was involved in what journalists referred to as “The Fraud Factory” of Milton Group.
Josifi has managed to avoid facing justice, but in May 2014, the young man still had a clean record.
For 4,000 lekë, he purchased 40% of the shares of the Italian-owned company, only to sell them back later for the same amount. One month after this transaction, the company was sold to Maurizio Giacalone, who was also a resident of Palermo.
Giacalone changed the company’s name, and with this change, Josifi’s traces disappeared. However, documents reveal that these “suspicious” transactions were carried out at the office of notary Natasha Xhaçka, the mother of Olta Xhaçka. Natasha is recorded as having notarized around ten other business transactions involving Amant Josifi. However, she claimed that these actions were legal and merely “routine procedures.”
“All actions were carried out in accordance with the law,” declared Natasha Xhaçka, promising to provide a detailed response via email. However, as of the publication of this article, Shteg has not received any comment from her.
Xhaçka is also recorded as having assisted Pranvera Strakoshë, the mother of Amant Josifi, in legal matters, by drafting a power of attorney appointing Juliana Fraholli as her representative for actions at the National Business Center (QKB). Curiously, Juliana Fraholli is also listed as the representative of companies founded in Albania by the Italian Stefano Cusenza, which were later transferred to Maurizio Giacalone.
Judicial investigations revealed that Giacalone’s companies had suspicious transactions, leading the prosecution to place them under seizure. Meanwhile, the companies owned by Stefano Cusenza became headquarters for fictitious companies set up by other Italians, Luca Falsone and Davide Armanno, in 2018.
Apartment 12 on the 7th floor of a shopping center on “Muhamet Gjollesha” Street was initially a training center owned by Cusenza in partnership with two other Italians from Palermo. A few months later, this apartment became the registered business address for four companies established by Davide Armanno in 2018.
In apartment 22 of the same shopping center, Cusenza’s company “Verbal Trade” was operating.
In 2018, Luca Falsone registered three of his companies at this address, shortly after Cusenza sold it to Giuseppe Tortorici, a member of the Palermo group who was later convicted by Albanian justice.
In April 2024, the Tirana Court found Maurizio Giacalone and seven other Italians guilty, sentencing each of them in absentia to 9 years in prison. They managed to evade authorities and were declared wanted, while Domi and the Mici cousins were arrested.
Bank transfer records show that the Italians used Albanian company administrators, such as Ismail Mici, to withdraw money from bank accounts opened in Albania.
The investigations into the three young Albanians have been transferred to the Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK) under suspicions of their involvement in other cases of computer fraud within this sector.
The Crossroads of the New Generation
We meet Kristiana Kolë waiting in line to receive service at one of the few banks in Tirana that remain open until 8:00 PM. Since finishing high school, she has been working in the call center sector, while she has decided to pause her studies in “Administration and Social Policy” for the time being.
Working in a Call Center provides Kristiana with a good income, and she notes that “large companies offer decent conditions, but they are no different from the rest when it comes to bonuses or overtime pay. In this regard, ‘they are all the same.'” “They always find a way not to give it to you, [bonusin]” says the 23-year-old.
Kristina managed to secure a position as a “system supervisor,” but the company suddenly shut down after reports emerged that its executives were wanted by the police.
“We had no idea what was happening; we were following media reports until someone told us we had to go home,” Kristiana continues her account.
After that experience, she became involved with the Solidariteti union, which advocates for the rights of call center operators.
Kristina believes that the main reason many young people get involved in call center companies is money.
“Young people stop and say: ‘Ok! I’ve heard you can make a lot of money here, I’ll keep this job for a while just to pay off some debt.’
But the problem is that they get stuck, drawn in by quick money, and then they start to like it,[punë]” she continues her account.
In online trading offices, the work is described as highly dynamic for “Retention” agents, who, in order to be effective, are trained to develop a “strong communication personality.”
“This is the butcher, so to speak, because they completely break the client down[klientin], pushing them to make big investments,” describes Ilir Xhemalaj, president of the National Union of Telephone Operators (SKOT), when explaining the role of “Retention” agents.
“They tell you that you have to find your own way,[të të bindurit]” explains Kristiana, who believes that once young employees start enjoying the job, they no longer see any limits in their pursuit of bonuses.
Beyond the financial benefits, call center operators face difficult working conditions and long hours.
“A call every 30 seconds… now imagine doing that for 10 straight hours, then repeating it for 10-15 years! That’s what my colleagues and I have done. We’ve been wrecked by the nervous strain!” says Ilir Xhemalaj.
According to him, most companies implement an exhausting policy.
“Limited rewards for overtime work and systematic penalties for lateness.”
Besides this, call center work is not recognized with any special status.
Long-term employment in this sector leaves most workers with hearing, vision, or even orthopedic issues.
“I graduated from Sapienza in political science and governance, and I also hold a degree in administrative law. But after working as a call center operator for 10-15 years, it’s hard for anyone to take me seriously for a legal job in the future, as I haven’t been able to fully practice my profession,” explains Xhemalaj.
Various European Union countries, such as Italy, Germany, and Spain, provide decent pensions for certain professions.
Data from the General Directorate of Taxes shows that in 2016, there were 409 registered companies in this sector, employing approximately 18,600 people, while in 2014, there were 270 registered companies with just under 9,300 employees.
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