Businessman who sold land for Kouchner's resort in Albania suspected of forging title deeds

A Miami-based businessman wanted by Albania on suspicion of laundering money from drug trafficking is suspected of forging ownership documents for land on which Jared Kushner wants to build a multi-billion dollar resort, Albania's anti-organised crime agency said in case files seen by Reuters.

Businessman Artur Shehu denies all charges, said his lawyer Kujtim Cakrani, who confirmed that Albanian prosecutors have issued a warrant for Shehu's arrest for laundering money for drug gangs.

The case files accuse Shehu and his associates of smuggling South American cocaine into European ports and laundering the money thus acquired by investing it in building a business empire in the real estate sector, including using forged land ownership documents.

"None of what has been stated regarding Mr. Artur Shehu is true. He is neither a drug dealer nor a forger of property documents," Cakrani said.

"Mr. Shehu is aware of the accusations of the Albanian prosecution. These accusations do not apply to him because he claims that the truth is completely different from what the prosecution alleges."

A spokesman for the US Department of Justice declined to comment on whether a request had been received from Albania for US authorities to locate or detain Shehu in Miami.

In April, Shehu sold a strip of pristine Albanian coastline earmarked for resort development to Albania Land Development, which is owned by Sazan Real Estate Development, an investor in the project backed by Kouchner, and other investors.

"Based on the evidence, there are reasonable suspicions that the said property was acquired using forged documents," prosecutors wrote in the case files.

The filings do not allege any wrongdoing by Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, Sazan Real Estate Development and Albania Land Development, or other investors in the resort project. Reuters found no indication that any investor knew about the suspicions surrounding Shehu when they bought the land from him.

A spokesman for Sazan Real Estate Development did not comment on the allegations against Shehu when Reuters reached him for comment, but said the company believed the land was purchased legally.

Albania Land Development did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

A spokesman for Kushner declined to comment for this story. Although Sazan confirmed that Kushner is an investor in the project, the precise nature of his role and the size of his investment have not been made public.

Controversial project in a pristine area

The allegation that ownership documents may have been forged presents another obstacle to the high-profile project, which is already facing mass protests over claims that it threatens wildlife.

Residents of the village of Zvernec, near the project site, have been challenging Shehu's right to the land in court for over a decade.

Last month, about a dozen of them showed Reuters title deeds and tax documents they say prove they are the rightful owners of the land. Their lawyer, Kostandin Beko, said the case was still ongoing and they planned to seek an injunction to halt the resort project.

Albania, once one of the poorest and most isolated countries in Europe, is now a candidate for European Union membership and is undergoing a construction boom along some of the last untouched stretches of European Adriatic coastline.

The resort, backed by Kouchner, is planned along an area with wild beaches, forests and wetlands that are home to sea turtles and flamingos.

Flamingos have become a symbol of opponents of the project, who call their protests the "Flamingo Revolution."

Kushner's wife, Ivanka Trump, said she and Kushner got the idea for the resort when they saw the coast from a yacht a few years ago.

Kouchner announced the plans on social media in 2024, along with an artistic rendering showing the land covered in a hotel, villas, swimming pools and yacht docks. He has not publicly disclosed how much money he has invested in the project.

The Albanian government strongly supports the plans and claims the protests are being staged by its political opponents. Prime Minister Edi Rama told Reuters last month that it was a "beautiful" project and would be implemented regardless of opposition.

Asked about the allegations against Shehu made in the case files, a government spokesman said that the government would not interfere in private transactions, but that the project was being implemented in accordance with Albanian laws and European Union regulations.

Brussels has previously urged Albania, as an EU candidate, to comply with European environmental regulations regarding the project. A European Commission spokesman declined to comment further on the case.

Albanian prosecutors get involved

The case files against Shehu were prepared by Albania's Special Structure for the Fight against Corruption and Organized Crime, known as SPAK, which was formed in 2019 to fight corruption and has its own investigators and prosecutors, independent of the regular police and prosecutor's office.

The files are 200 pages long and have not been made public. Asked about them, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed that SPAK is investigating the case, but declined to provide further comment.

The documents are dated June 12, 2026. On the same day, SPAK publicly announced that arrest warrants had been issued for 20 people for drug trafficking and money laundering.

Unlike the case files, which list Shehu and other individuals by their full names, the arrest warrants only identify the suspects by their initials, in line with the common practice in Albania of not publishing their names before indictment.

All initials from the arrest warrant match the full names of the individuals described in the case files, including one suspect identified as "A. Š.".

Shehu's lawyer, Cakrani, confirmed that his client was under investigation, but said he was not concerned about the arrest warrant because it is "widely believed" that Albanian prosecutors are acting under the influence of politicians and businessmen.

SPAK has not announced whether any of the 20 suspects have been arrested or charged in the meantime.

Albanian living in Miami

SPAK documents state that Shehu sold land for a resort project for around 110 million euros. The agency reportedly ordered the money to be frozen in the notary's account, preventing the funds from reaching Shehu.

Shehu and his associates "purchased land with illegally obtained money and using forged ownership documents, creating false ownership documents or artificially increasing the area of ​​the real estate," SPAK stated in the filings.

"The properties were then transferred or exchanged so that authorities could not easily trace them."

A spokesman for Sazan Real Estate Development said: "We continue to believe that the initial land purchases were made legally and in accordance with applicable procedures. As always, we respect all legal process and will cooperate with requests."

Reuters asked the spokesperson to elaborate on why the company believes the land was purchased legally, given the prosecution's allegations against Shehu, but did not receive a further response.

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 legally sold it to resort developers.

Cakrani described Shehu as a respectable citizen who sought political asylum in the United States in 1998 after his brother and uncle were killed in front of him by "criminal gangs." Reuters could not independently confirm the allegations.