The upcoming series by producer Shonda Rhimes - who will tackle the incredible story of Russian Anna Sorokina who invented a false identity and deceived some of New York's wealthiest people - brought back the concept of "con artist" (confidence artist). - a term used for people who gain the trust of others by convincing them of a non-existent identity / event / service, with the benefit of extorting money. Such a phenomenon is not very unknown in Albania, on the contrary the stories have turned out to be really shocking.
Maksude Kadena
In the early 1990s, exactly in 1993, Maksude Kadena attracted a large number of Albanians who wanted to put their money in a pyramid scheme, hoping to get more. Maksudja, also known as Sudja, a woman from the Roma community, attracted many clients using a seemingly crystal ball as an oracle claiming to anticipate the profits of foreign investors.
Sudja, who had previously worked as a laundry and employee at a shoe factory, managed to convince her clients. According to documents provided by Shqiptarja.com in 2018, it turned out that Sude's assets amounted to only 5,531,606, while liabilities to third parties amounted to more than ALL 39.2 billion at current exchange rates.
In 1996, Sudan was the first pyramid firm to go bankrupt, causing a domino effect on all other firms, triggering fierce civil strife that followed the 1997 outbreak.
When arrested, Sudan was found eating curd bread in a dilapidated apartment and in 2001 he was sentenced to five years in prison.
Shemsie Kadria
During 1995-1997, Shemsie Kadria, the former president of the pyramid firm Gjallica, defrauded some 70,000 creditors who took money with interest. Gjallica operated in the city of Vlora and went bankrupt in February 1997, triggering violent protests in Vlora that later turned into rebellion against the government. In January 2001, the Tirana Court sentenced the former president of "Gjallica" to 17 years in prison, while in 2007 he was released thanks to the amnesty of then President Alfred Moisiu.
In March 2013, Shemsie Kadria was again found wanted because the Prosecutor's Office accused her of engaging in another activity by cheating with large sums of money. She was denounced by three different citizens, who said she received between 30,000 and 60,000 euros for apartment bookings, which she later failed to provide. A year later, he was acquitted.
Violeta Petro
64-year-old Violeta Petro was arrested in August this year on charges of fraud, concealment of income and failure to pay taxes. Petro deceived businessmen by promising big construction projects funded by UNICEF. She appeared as a UNICEF representative and received fraudulent funds for personal gain. The 64-year-old offered businesses to be part of the project, mainly related to nurseries, nurseries and nursing homes, but initially had to pay 1% of the project's value. From police reports, two fraud cases worth $ 60,000 and $ 32,000 were established. Afterwards, the number of denunciations went to 9.
Luli and Adelia Makashi
Through an employment agency named Ande-Lm, Luli and Adelia Makashi deceived 225 Albanian nationals, claiming they would be sent to Canada on work or employment visas. According to documents provided by the Prosecution, the mother and daughter required between $ 2,000 and $ 10,000 per person to make it possible to ship to Canada. They were arrested in 2016. Just before the arrest, to hide the trail, they sold the company to someone else.
How did the fraud scheme work? Luli Makashi, Ande-Lm company administrator, and Adelia as coordinator, were dismissed as providing employment mediation services. During the presentation of their work, applicants appeared before Canadian applicants.
In October 2017, they were sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Olesia Duke
Dentist Olesia Duke, Bojken Lako's ex-wife, deceived the citizens by promising to repay the borrowed money at a higher rate as her business, a dental clinic, generated huge amounts of money. For two years, from 2015 to 2017, she stole 2,733,049 euros, 26.100,000 leks and 103,000 dollars from 14 people. In September this year, Duke was sentenced to 6 years and 8 months in prison.
