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| Dua Lipa and the luxury villa at Cape Merli, Ksamil, Albania |
In Albania, no one escapes the grip of oligarchs. Not the ordinary citizen, not the entrepreneur, and not even a global superstar like Dua Lipa, who proudly raises the Albanian flag on the world’s biggest stages.
Author Arben Llangozi describes the latest case as so absurd it borders on dark comedy: the world-famous singer has fallen victim to the same schemes of fraud and land-grabbing that thousands of Albanians face on the country’s coastline.
Confidential sources reveal that Dua Lipa expressed interest in purchasing a luxury villa at Cape Merli, Ksamil—one of the most coveted tourist destinations in southern Albania. An oligarch with strong ties to the government offered her a “property with clean papers,” assuring her the investment was safe.
But instead of a legal villa, the singer was handed a 3D project on paper. What was later built turned out to be an illegal construction, now stuck in Albania’s endless legalization process—a mechanism often exploited for money laundering and the redistribution of stolen land.
“This scandal is not just about one villa,” writes Llangozi. “It is the symbol of an arrogant system where oligarchs act above the law. They plunder the coastline, pocket millions through state tenders, sell illegal properties, and now, without shame, they even defraud a world-renowned singer.”
Instead of celebrating the fact that Dua Lipa is investing in her homeland, Albania’s oligarchs—shielded by Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government—see her as just another “client” to strip of her money. The bitter reality, Llangozi notes, is that tourism and the country’s image are not being used for development but as tools for theft.
In any normal country, such a case would shake the government, dominate headlines, and trigger criminal investigations. But in Albania? Silence. The state looks the other way, SPAK (the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office) remains dormant, and the oligarch continues his illegal constructions undisturbed.
“If a name like Dua Lipa—backed by international lawyers and global reputation—can be swindled by Albanian oligarchs, what hope is left for ordinary citizens?” asks Llangozi. The message is clear: this corrupt system spares no one.
What happened to Dua Lipa is not an isolated scandal. It is the portrait of a country where corruption has become a culture, and the law exists only as a façade to deceive.
While Albania takes pride in its global star, its ruling elite has given her the most humiliating “gift” of the Albanian transition: a stolen villa, stuck in legalization, and a scandal that stains the entire nation.