Albanian prosecutors are investigating forged deeds connected to Kushner’s resort as protests against the project intensify.
Published July 11, 2026
Albania’s anti-corruption prosecutor’s office is investigating whether deeds for a protected coastline earmarked for a Jared Kushner-backed resort were forged, according to case files reviewed by Reuters, adding new legal complications to a project that has already sparked months of street protests.
The file, compiled by the Special Agency Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), names Artur Shehu, a Miami-based businessman, as the seller who transferred the land in April to Albania Land Development, the entity behind the Kushner-related scheme.
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Prosecutors allege that Mr. Shehu and his associates funneled the proceeds of cocaine trafficking into Albanian properties, used false names to hide the source of the money, and then froze about 110 million euros ($126 million) related to the sales in a notary account.
Shehu’s lawyer, Kuztim Chaklani, flatly denied the allegations. “None of the allegations about Artur Shehu’s character are true,” he told Reuters, adding that his client was not a trafficker or document forger and had legally sold land that had been in his family since Ottoman times.
Mr. Kaclani said Mr. Shehu had no problem with the arrest warrant, arguing that it is widely believed in Albania that prosecutors cater to political and business interests. He also said Shehu fled to the United States and won asylum in 1998 after his brother and uncle were killed in gang violence.
The 200-page SPAK file, previously unreleased, was issued on the same day the agency announced separate arrest warrants for 20 people accused of drug trafficking and money laundering.
Reuters found no evidence that Kushner, Southern Real Estate Development and other resort backers knew about the allegations surrounding the chef when the property changed hands.
The revelations come amid continued unrest over the development, which is located in wetlands and beaches along Albania’s southern coast, home to sea turtles and flamingos. The latter was adopted as a symbol of the self-proclaimed “Flamingo Revolution” against the resort and government corruption in general.
Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, said they got the idea for the resort after viewing the coastline from a yacht. He shared on social media a rendering of the hotel, villas and marina, which will be completed in 2024.
The nightly rallies, which began in May, initially focused on the project but have expanded into a broader movement demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation over corruption allegations.
In last week’s crackdown, riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters outside parliament, injuring 15 police officers and arresting 25 people. A court in Tirana on Sunday released 19 of the detainees, placed two under house arrest and ordered 12 others to report regularly to judicial police.
“This is a revolution against the tycoons who want to use Albania as a playground for the rich,” said Entera Koca, one of the protesters.
Villagers near the site have been separately pursuing a decade-long legal challenge to the chef’s ownership claims, presenting title deeds and tax records to prove they are the rightful owners.
“I told them that it is not easy for them to take this land and enjoy other people’s land and property. What is happening in this country is madness,” one of the landowners, Nikolin Markparaj, told Al Jazeera.
Rama’s government dismissed the protests as orchestrated by political opponents and insisted the project complied with Albanian and European Union law.
