They had set up a fraud scheme and received up to 10,000 dollars for a visa to the USA, the investigations are over, the Prosecutor's Office of Tirana sends 5 people to court

The Prosecutor's Office of Tirana has completed the investigations and has sent for trial the 5 people who are accused of creating a genuine scheme to extort Albanian citizens who wanted to obtain American visas. Renato Nasto, Klea Prifti, Claudio Leçini, Klaus Kapedeni, Xhemal Seseri, Eduart Gjini, are accused of the criminal offenses of "Fraud" and "Forgery of seals, stamps or forms". In the investigation file of the prosecutor's office, it is stated that the discovery of this group of fraudsters was made on the basis of information sent by the Diplomatic Security Service at the Embassy of the United States of America in Tirana. They have informed the Albanian authorities about a possible case of US visa fraud, which is allegedly being carried out by one or two Albanian citizens here in Tirana. The security services found on October 13, 2023, a citizen of about 50-60 years old, outside the premises of the US Consulate in Tirana, distributing business cards with notes in the Albanian language "American Visa Insider". The business card contained notes in the Albanian language "American Visa Insider", with two accounts on the Instagram and WhatsApp platforms, also giving a phone number.

The details

Also, based on the physical descriptions of the woman who was handing out the business card, it has been identified that she was Diana NASTO, the mother of Renato NASTO, and together they have a money transfer agency named "RIA Money Transfer", and the Travel Agency" at the address, "Ramazan Citaku" street, Kamëz, Tirana. After the verifications, it was concluded that Renato and Diana NASTO (mother and son) deceived the citizens, who wanted to immigrate illegally to the USA, that through their agency the American visa is safe, and for this they demanded sums of significantly from 5,000 to 10,000 US dollars. According to the file, the defendants had used a page on Instagram called "American visa insider" as bait. It was used by Renato Nasto, to attract citizens interested in obtaining the American visa. To make it convincing, he also used passport photos of people who had previously received visas, including Klea Prifti, which he advertised as a guaranteed success that if you cooperated with him, you had a 10-year visa in your pocket . "You pay only after your visa is approved", it is written on the Instagram page through which Nasto has managed to get in touch with many citizens, applicants for visits. While Klea Prifti, Claudio Leçini, Klaus Kapedani and Xhemal Seseri are accused of having allowed 30-year-old Nasto to manipulate their data. After they filled out the form with false data, on the day of the interview at the embassy, ??Renato Nasto appeared as an insider at the embassy, ??accompanied them and gave them instructions on how to answer, giving them manipulative details. If the visa was successfully obtained, 10,000 euros would go into Nasto's pocket. It is not known exactly how many Albanians were able to get an American visa in this way, but it is suspected that among the beneficiaries is Eduart Gjini, who has been declared wanted.

The US embassy reacts

Meanwhile, earlier the embassy of the United States of America stated that there is a fraudulent scheme regarding American visas and called on Albanian citizens to be careful. "The US Embassy is aware of a so-called project known as 'Let's Talk Together About US24.' This group has no affiliation with the US Embassy, ??the US Department of State, the US Department of Education, our educational programs, or embassy staff," the US embassy said. "The US State Department's Diplomatic Security Service will continue to work with the State Police as they investigate the extent of this fraudulent scheme," the US embassy said in a statement. The American Embassy calls on all Albanians to be wary of scams that guarantee free travel to the United States, as well as free or low-cost American visas. "We also urge anyone to contact the US Embassy if they suspect that any person or organization is attempting to falsely represent themselves as affiliated with the embassy," the US embassy's response concludes.