From a single 69-square-metre apartment in 2003 to approximately 40 properties allegedly linked to his family today: journalist Adriatik Doçi has raised serious questions about the wealth of former Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and his relatives.
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In a sharply worded commentary titled "How Sali Berisha Stole Through His Three Pockets", Doçi alleges that Berisha used his children, Shkëlzen and Argita, and his son-in-law Abi as intermediaries in business arrangements involving people seeking government permits, licences, public contracts and concessions.
According to the journalist, payments were allegedly channelled through consulting, brokerage and sales contracts, while political decisions benefited the businesses involved.
From Brussels to Rotterdam and Lalëz Bay
Doçi points to properties allegedly associated with the Berisha family in Brussels, Rotterdam, Budapest and Albania's coastal area of Lalëz Bay.
He also refers to previous investigative reporting by Report TV concerning the Partizani Club affair, the Fazlliçi case and other controversies involving the family's business interests.
The journalist describes these cases as part of a broader pattern in which political influence and private financial interests allegedly intersected during Berisha's time in power.
The central question is how the family's wealth grew and whether its assets and business dealings have been fully and transparently declared.
The allegations published by Doçi do not, in themselves, constitute proof of corruption or establish the illegal origin of the properties. Nevertheless, the reported scale of the family's assets raises questions that can only be answered through transparent financial declarations, property records and independent investigations.