Who are the two people that reported the mayor of Ersekë, Erion Isai, to SACS?

By Elton Qyno

While comedian Erion Isai, for years in his role as mayor, allegedly had public tenders of the institution in his “clutches,” it took only two criminal complaints against him for him to be exposed in a criminal case registered by SACS.

The case against Erion Isai and other officials of the Municipality of Ersekë was opened five years ago, in November 2020, on charges of “Abuse of Office” and “Violation of Equality in Public Tenders and Auctions.”

The two individuals who had the courage to perform a civic duty for their community are Romeo Nazarko and Esmerald Xhafa, who filed criminal complaints with SACS, requesting the initiation of investigations into Ersekë municipal officials.

In fact, the first to take the initiative was Romeo Nazarko, a geodetic engineer by profession, who, being well-versed in construction, uncovered serious violations in the criteria and construction methods of roads in Ersekë.

Through a multi-page complaint in November 2020, Nazarko urged SACS to investigate the mayor of Ersekë for serious financial abuses and pre-arranged public tenders facilitated through special ties that Erion Isai allegedly maintained with administrators and owners of private construction companies.

Based on this complaint, SACS registered criminal proceeding No. 280 on two charges: “Abuse of Office” and “Violation of Equality in Tenders.”

It should be noted that Romeo Nazarko is the same individual who reported to SACS and the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office a corruption scheme involving officials of the Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (AZHBR), who allegedly misused European Union funds through OLAF agricultural projects.

Nazarko had applied in 2019 to AZHBR to secure support for developing a 23-hectare plot of land in his hometown of Ersekë, where he planned to plant chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds as part of a cooperative chain with local residents.

However, his application was rejected by AZHBR, as he claimed in his complaint submitted to SACS. The geodetic engineer stated that he refused to be part of the corruption schemes operating within that institution.

This case submitted by Nazarko is currently being pursued criminally by SACS and investigators from the European Commission.

The second individual is lawyer Esmerald Xhafa, who, as a citizen of Korçë, upon learning from media reports about the collapse of the Ersekë–Korçë national road, decided on February 29, 2024, to file a complaint with SACS, requesting the criminal prosecution of Mayor Erion Isai on the charge of “Abuse of Office.”

Based on this complaint, SACS registered criminal proceeding No. 39 in 2024. But since the two complaints filed by Nazarko and Xhafa had the same nature and subject matter, on July 22, 2020, the Special Prosecution SPAK decided to merge the two proceedings into a single case under No. 280.

After the second complaint, the situation for Ersekë’s comedian-mayor Erion Isai and other municipal officials changed, as SACS seized several phones belonging to municipal officials and the administrator of “A & E Engineering,” Entela Çano.

From the evidence, it appears that Mayor Isai had engaged in private communications concerning the pre-arrangement of construction prices, financial budgets, and selection of the winning company, whose administrator is Entela Çano.

“KORÇA BOOM”