In 2018, the State Intelligence Service monitored and recorded oil businessman Paulin Gega, who was passing bags of euros without declaring them at the border. The secret service has established a large number of entrances and exits from the territory of Albania of Paulin Gegë, passing large sums of money. Gega moved the dirty money in cooperation with his friend Gëzim Aliaj and is suspected of coordinating with employees of the Hani i Hoti border point.
SHISH has referred the material to the Prosecutor’s Office of Shkodra, which has launched investigations against Paulin Gegë for money laundering and non-declaration of cash and valuables. In order to document his criminal activity, the Prosecution put Paulin Gegë under surveillance, who in the first days had conversations with various people about the movement of large sums of money.
Suddenly the businessman cut off phone communications for money and any activity that could implicate him criminally. Sources from SHISH said that the boss of Gega Oil, Paulin Gega, was informed that he was being tapped as soon as his file was referred to the Prosecutor’s Office. The materials referred by SHISH were a strong indication that could point to the activity of a criminal group.
The prosecutor of the case was Shqiponja Milla, who after a year of ‘investigations’ requested the closure of the case for Paulin Gega. The request was approved by judge Sokol Shehu.
Fraud scheme, how did you close the file
At the time when SHISH was monitoring him for transporting and laundering dirty money, Paulin Gega, according to the police, was implementing a fuel fraud scheme, which consisted of hiding income.
Paulin Gega was declared wanted by the police in August 2019, for several criminal offenses, such as; “Concealment of income”, “Change in measuring devices” and “Cleaning of proceeds of crime”. This time too, Gega was informed in time that he would be arrested. The businessman left Albania before the arrest warrant was issued.
After this action and the action of the prosecution, it is suspected that a new story of corruption started. Initially, the order to declare Paulin Gegë wanted by the police was revoked. During the days on the run, Gega seems to have found the right connections with the case prosecutor and the judge, making a controlled surrender. He formally presented himself to the police and was later released.
With the tax evasion money, Gega seems to have found it easy to close the file. Initially, his file moved from one prosecutor’s office to another, until he found the right line to dismiss the case. The decision to leave was not easy. Vetting had started, while SPAK was giving the first signals. To close the file, you had to pass the police and tax evidence for tax evasion.
But, they say that money can’t buy something that can be bought with a lot of money. According to a notification, Gega paid at least 500 thousand euros for closing the file. The police structure, BKH and the services are believed to be aware of the corruption affair. There are doubts that the 200,000 euros was taken by the judge who accepted the request to dismiss the case, which we will talk about below.
Another fraud scheme, how he removed the fine of 350 thousand euros
After the case was closed, the boss of Gega Oil continued the conversation. A few months later, customs have discovered that Paulin Gega, through Gega Oil, was smuggling gasoline and tax evasion by switching the cash register from automatic to manual, thus hiding real income and declaring less profit. Gega Oil was caught with an amount of 233,000 liters of undeclared gasoline, which was hidden precisely through the change of the cash regime. The undeclared gasoline was seized in Porto Romano, in the fiscal warehouses, during a field inspection.
The action was presented with fanfare by Edi Rama and Anila Denaj. Gega was fined 350,000 euros, while again escaping criminal punishment. Not only that. The oil boss moved the right strings again, removing the fine. It was rumored that Gega threw 100 thousand euros to remove the 350 thousand euros fine. Customs and taxes almost apologized to Paulin Gegë. They said the fine was a misunderstanding. According to them, the customs inspectors and police experts had done the calculations wrongly, forgetting to measure the firos.
The theft scheme follows
Gega Oil owns about 90 gas stations. The company sells about 400 million liters of fuel per year. On the other hand, the company declares minimum annual profits in relation to the economic activity, in order not to pay taxes. Even the declared profit is allegedly invested in capital, diverting to other forms and investing in real estate, stocks and other businesses. In Taxes, Customs, Economic Crime and BKH there are dozens of denunciations about the illegal activity of Gega Oil, costing tens of millions of euros in the state budget.
20 million euro tender
Through two companies, Gega Oil and Gega Center GKG, Paulin Gega has benefited in recent years about 20 million euros of public money, through dubious tenders, for the supply of fuel to some public institutions. The main line of benefit of public money from Gega companies is the Municipality of Tirana and its branches. Tenders are marked mainly with red flags of corruption. Ironically, Gega won a tender worth 500,000 euros from SHISH, which had monitored and filed for money laundering.
He buys diesel for 21.7 ALL/liter and sells it for 218 ALL/liter.
This also happens. Paulin Gega buys fuel at state auctions with a certain value and then resells it to the state at a price 10 times higher. Gega made the last ‘blow’ in March 2026, where he bought 2,313,000 liters of ‘Marina Gasoil 1000 PPM’, at 21.7 Lek per liter. Gega Oil mixes the oil used for ship engines in its tanks and sells it for over 2 euros per liter at its stations, as well as resells it to the state, in compliance with contracts with public institutions.
