At the request of the Special Prosecution Office, the Criminal Investigation Division has extended the investigation deadlines by 3 months for the "Bankers" file.
According to the prosecution, the request is based on the performance of additional investigative actions due to the complexity of the case.
The only one currently under arrest in this case is the company's Chinese CEO, Hongping Xiao, while all other defendants are under milder measures such as house arrest.
The investigations relate to suspicious tax declarations and evasion of financial obligations from 2004–2024, causing considerable financial damage to the state budget.
According to the Prosecution, Bankers has made oil sales and exports worth a total of 532 billion lek, but has declared losses for each year, totaling 11.7 billion lek, avoiding income tax and benefiting from dubious VAT refunds.
A few days ago, the General Directorate of Customs blocked the activity of "Bankers Petroleum" due to the still unpaid fine of 120 million euros, imposed in 2019 after the oil company had not paid 30 million euros in excise duty on the diluent.
Editorial
