By Fatos Bytyci and Edward McAllister
TIRANA, July 11 (Reuters) - A Miami-based businessman wanted in Albania for allegedly laundering drug money is suspected of faking the deeds to land where Jared Kushner wants to build a multi-billion-dollar resort, the country's organised crime-fighting agency said in case files reviewed by Reuters.
The businessman, Artur Shehu, denies all accusations against him, said his lawyer, Kujtim Cakrani, who confirmed that Albanian prosecutors had issued a warrant seeking
Shehu's arrest for laundering money for drug gangs.
The case files accuse Shehu and associates of trafficking South American cocaine into European ports, and laundering the funds by using them to establish a real estate empire, including with falsified land-ownership documents.
"Nothing that has been alleged regarding Mr. Artur Shehu's character is true. He is neither a drug trafficker nor a forger of property documents," Cakrani said.
"Mr Shehu is aware of the allegations made by the Albanian prosecution. These allegations do not concern him because he maintains that the truth is entirely different from what the prosecution claims."
A U.S. Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on whether it had received any request from Albania to locate or detain Shehu in Miami.
In April, Shehu sold the strip of pristine Albanian coastline for the planned resort to Albania Land Development, a company which is owned by the Kushner-backed project's developers Sazan Real Estate Development and other investors.
"Reasonable suspicions are formed, based on evidence, that the above‑mentioned assets were acquired through the use of forged documents," prosecutors wrote in the case files.
The files make no allegation of wrongdoing against U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law Kushner, Sazan Real Estate Development, Albania Land Development or other investors in the resort project. Reuters found no indication that any investors were aware of any suspicions about Shehu when they bought the land from him.
A spokesperson for Sazan Real Estate Development did not address the allegations against Shehu when Reuters asked about them, but said the company believed the land acquisitions were legitimate.
Albania Land Development did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Kushner declined to comment for this story. While Sazan has confirmed Kushner is an investor in the project, the precise nature of his role or extent of his investment has not been made public.
DISPUTED PROJECT ON PRISTINE LAND
The accusation that the deeds may have been falsified is another hurdle for a high-profile project already facing mass protests over allegations that it threatens wildlife.
Residents of the village of Zvernec near the project have been contesting Shehu's claim on the land in court cases that date back more than a decade.
Last month, a dozen of them showed Reuters title deeds and tax records that they said proved they were the rightful owners of the land. Their lawyer, Kostandin Beko, said the case is still open and they plan to seek a court order to halt the resort project.
Albania, once one of the poorest and most isolated countries in Europe, is now a candidate to join the EU and is experiencing a building boom along some of the continent's last unspoiled coastline on the Adriatic Sea.
The Kushner-backed resort is planned along a stretch of wild beaches, forest and a wetland home to sea turtles and flamingoes. The birds have become symbols for opponents of the project, who call their protests the "Flamingo Revolution".
Kushner's wife Ivanka Trump has said she and Kushner conceived of the idea for the resort when they spotted the coast from a yacht years ago.
In 2024, Kushner announced the plans on social media with an artist's rendering showing the land covered in a hotel, villas, pools and jetties for yachts. He has not publicly disclosed how much money he has invested in it.
Albania's government has strongly backed the plans and says the protests are staged by its political opponents. Prime Minister Edi Rama told Reuters last month that it was a "beautiful" project and would go ahead regardless.
Asked about the allegations in the case files against Shehu, a government spokesperson said the government would not intervene in private transactions, but that the project was proceeding in compliance with Albanian and EU laws.
Brussels has previously called on Albania, as a candidate for EU membership, to abide by EU environmental rules in connection with the project. A spokesperson for the EU's executive Commission did not provide additional comment for this story.
ALBANIAN PROSECUTORS STEP IN
The case files against Shehu were prepared by Albania's Special Structure Against Corruption and Organised Crime, known as SPAK, set up in 2019 to fight corruption with its own investigators and prosecutors independent of the regular police and prosecution service.
The files contain 200 pages and have not been made public. When asked about the case files, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed that SPAK was investigating the subject matter, but declined to comment further.
The files are dated June 12, 2026. The same day, SPAK also publicly announced arrest warrants for 20 people for trafficking narcotics and laundering the money raised by that trade.
Unlike the case files, which fully identify Shehu and other figures by name, the arrest warrants identify the suspects only by their initials, in line with standard practice in Albania in which suspects are not publicly named before they are charged.
The initials in the arrest warrants all correspond to the full names of people described in the case files, including one suspect identified as "A.Sh."
Shehu's lawyer Cakrani, confirming that Shehu was a target, said he was unconcerned about the arrest warrant, as it was "widely believed" that Albanian prosecutors operated under the influence of politicians and business figures.
SPAK has not said whether any of the 20 suspects has since been arrested or charged.
THE ALBANIAN LIVING IN MIAMI
The SPAK documents say Shehu sold the land for the resort project for around €110 million, funds which it says it ordered to be frozen in the account of a notary, preventing the money from reaching Shehu.
Shehu and associates "purchased land using illegally obtained funds and forged ownership documents by creating false property titles or artificially increasing the size of properties," SPAK said in the files.
"The properties were then transferred or exchanged so they could not easily be traced by the authorities."
A spokesperson for Sazan Real Estate Development said: "We continue to believe the underlying land acquisitions were conducted lawfully and in accordance with applicable procedures. As always, we respect and will cooperate with any lawful process as required."
Reuters asked the spokesperson to elaborate on why the company believed the land acquisitions were lawful, given the prosecutors' allegations against Shehu, but received no further reply.
Shehu's lawyer, Cakrani, told Reuters that Shehu's family had owned the land since the time of the Ottoman Empire more than 100 years ago, and that Shehu had lawfully sold it to the resort investors.
Cakrani described Shehu as an upstanding citizen who sought political asylum in the United States in 1998 after "criminal gangs" killed his brother and uncle in front of him. Reuters could not independently verify this account.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci and Edward McAllisterAdditional reporting by Timour Azhari, Feras Dalatey in Dubai, Amina Ismail in Brussels and Andrew Goudsward in WashingtonWriting by Edward McAllisterEditing by Peter Graff)
