Albania's special anti-corruption prosecutors have taken a significant step in the controversy surrounding a high-profile luxury-resort project. According to the reporting, the prosecutors have now frozen the bank accounts of a landholding company involved in the development. The company is owned by a Qatari billionaire, and the move marks an escalation in the scrutiny over the project.
At the center of the investigation is the question of how land was acquired. The prosecutors are looking into whether property titles connected to the project may have been obtained fraudulently. This line of inquiry strikes at the legal foundations of the development, which has faced mounting questions over how it secured access to the land in dispute.
The project itself is a multi-billion dollar venture pursued with Albania's government, aimed at building an exclusive luxury hotel and resort on the island of Sazan and a nearby peninsula. The development drew international attention because it was joined by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, alongside two Qatari billionaire investors, Mutaz and Ramaz Al-Hayat.
The path for the project was opened by a change in Albanian law. In 2024, Prime Minister Edi Rama pushed through a controversial law allowing building in protected areas. That decision cleared the way for construction on land that had previously enjoyed protected status, a point that has fueled criticism of how the project advanced.
On the ground, residents have voiced their own grievances. Kostak Konomi, an 81-year-old man, is among a group of villagers who allege the proposed resort is being built on beachfront land stolen from them. He said that last month he abruptly found access to the area sealed off after a fence and security guards appeared overnight, deepening the local sense of dispossession.
A public relations firm working with Kushner and Ivanka Trump provided statements on behalf of the investors' representatives. The company said its goal is simple, to celebrate Albania's natural beauty, create jobs and build something future generations can be proud of, adding that the project remains in the planning and design phase, prioritizes environmental stewardship, and that its future will ultimately be determined by the Albanian people.