Businessman who sold land for Kushner resort in Albania suspected of faking the deeds

By Fatos Bytyci and Edward McAllister

TIRANA, July 11 (Reuters) – A Miami-based businessman wanted for allegedly laundering drug money in Albania is suspected of forging deeds to land where Jared Kushner wants to build a multibillion-dollar resort, the country’s organized crime agency said in case files reviewed by Reuters.

Businessman Artur Shehu denies all charges against him and confirmed that Albanian prosecutors have issued a warrant for Shehu’s arrest on charges of laundering money for drug gangs, his lawyer Kujtim Cakrani said.

The case files accuse Shehu and his associates of transporting South American cocaine to European ports and laundering the funds, including using false land ownership documents, to build a real estate empire.

Chakrani said, “Nothing alleged about Mr. Artur Shehu’s character is true. He is neither a drug trafficker nor a forger of property documents.” he said.

“Mr. Shehu is aware of the allegations made by the Albanian prosecutor’s office. These allegations do not concern him because he argues that the truth is completely different from the allegations of the prosecution.”

A U.S. Department of Justice spokesman declined to comment on whether it had received any requests from Albania for Shehu’s presence or detention in Miami.

In April, Shehu sold Albania’s pristine coastline for the planned resort to Albania Land Development, which is owned by Sazan Real Estate Development, developers of the Kushner-backed project, and other investors.

Prosecutors wrote in their case files that “reasonable suspicions have arisen based on the evidence that the above-mentioned assets were obtained using forged documents.”

The files do not contain any allegations of impropriety against Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Sazan Real Estate Development, Albania Land Development or other investors in the resort project. Reuters found no indication that any investor who bought the land from him was aware of any suspicions about Shehu.

A spokesman for Sazan Real Estate Development did not address the allegations against Shehu when asked by Reuters, but said the company believed its land acquisitions were legitimate.

Albania Land Development did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for Kushner declined to comment for this story. Although Sazan confirmed that Kushner was an investor in the project, the exact nature of his role or the scope of his investment was not publicly disclosed.

CONTROVERSIAL PROJECT ON NON-ICED LAND

Accusations that the documents may be fake pose another hurdle for a high-profile project that is already facing mass protests over claims it threatens wildlife.

Residents of the village of Zvernec near the project have been challenging Shehu’s claim to the land in lawsuits spanning more than a decade.

Last month, a dozen people showed Reuters land and tax records that they said proved they were the real owners of the land. Their lawyer, Kostandin Beko, said that the case is still open and they plan to get a court decision to stop the holiday village project.

Once one of Europe’s poorest and most isolated countries, Albania is now a candidate to join the EU and is experiencing a construction boom along the continent’s last pristine coastline on the Adriatic Sea.

The Kushner-backed resort is planned along wild beaches, forests and a wetland that is home to sea turtles and flamingos. The birds became symbols of opponents of the project, who called their protests the “Flamingo Revolution”.

Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump, said that she and Kushner’s vacation idea came about years ago when they saw the coast from a yacht.

Kushner announced his plans on social media in 2024 with an artist’s drawing showing the land covered with hotels, villas, pools and yacht docks. He did not publicly disclose how much money he invested in it.

The Albanian government strongly supports the plans and says the protests are being organized by political opponents. Prime Minister Edi Rama told Reuters last month that it was a “beautiful” project and would go ahead no matter what.

Asked about allegations in the case files against Shehu, a government spokesman said the government would not intervene in private transactions, but that the project was proceeding in accordance with Albanian and EU laws.

Brussels had previously called on Albania, a candidate for EU membership, to comply with EU environmental rules regarding the project. A spokesperson for the EU Executive Commission had no additional comment for this story.

ALBANIAN PROSECUTORS ACTIVE

The case files against Shehu were established in 2019 by Albania’s Special Structure for Fighting Corruption and Organized Crime, known as SPAK, to combat corruption with its own investigators and prosecutors, independent of the regular police and prosecutorial service.

The files consist of 200 pages and have not yet been made public. When asked about the case files, a department spokesman confirmed SPAK was investigating the matter but declined to comment further.

The files are dated June 12, 2026. On the same day, SPAK also announced to the public that an arrest warrant had been issued for 20 people for drug trafficking and laundering the money obtained from this trade.

Unlike the case files, which list the full names of Shehu and others, the arrest warrants identify the suspects only by their initials; This is in line with standard practice in Albania, where the names of suspects are not made public before they are charged.

The initials on the arrest warrants are all “A.Ş.” It corresponds to the full names of individuals identified in the case files, including a suspect identified as.

Shehu’s lawyer, Cakrani, confirmed that Shehu was a target and said Albanian prosecutors were not interested in the arrest warrant due to the “widespread belief” that he was operating under the influence of politicians and businessmen.

SPAK did not say whether any of the 20 suspects have since been arrested or charged.

ALBANIAN LIVING IN MIAMI

SPAK documents say Shehu sold the land for the holiday project for around 110 million euros; It is stated that he ordered these funds to be frozen in the notary account and the money was prevented from reaching Shehu.

SPAK stated in its filings that Shehu and his associates “purchased land using illegally obtained funds and purchased false ownership documents by creating false property deeds or artificially increasing the size of the properties.”

“The properties were then transferred or exchanged in a way that could not easily be traced by authorities.”

A spokesperson for Sazan Real Estate Development said: “We continue to believe that the underlying land acquisitions were carried out legally and in accordance with applicable procedures. As always, we respect and will cooperate with any legal process as required.”

Reuters asked the spokesman to explain why the company believed the land acquisitions were legal, given prosecutors’ allegations against Shehu, but received no further response.

Shehu’s family had owned the land since the Ottoman Empire more than 100 years ago, and Shehu legally sold it to resort investors, Shehu’s lawyer, Chakrani, told Reuters.

Chakrani described Shehu as an honest citizen who sought political asylum in the United States in 1998 after “criminal gangs” killed his brother and uncle in front of him. Reuters could not independently verify this account.

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Edward McAllister. Additional reporting by Timour Azhari, Feras Dalatey in Dubai, Amina Ismail in Brussels and Andrew Goudsward in Washington. Writing by Edward McAllister. Editing by Peter Graff)