The Independent Qualification Commission (KPK) has dismissed Tirana judge Niko Rapi due to issues with his asset declaration.
The decision was taken by the vetting body made up of Lulzim Hamitaj, Valbona Sanxhaktari, and Genta Bungo.
During its administrative investigation, KPK raised concerns of a possible conflict of interest between judge Rapi and the Bregu shpk company, during the time where he was the head of the Pogradec Court.
The judge had borrowed 4 million ALL from the company, and also used a car owned by it.
Rapi used the loan to purchase a 95 square meter apartment and a parking spot in Tirana.
The judge purchased the apartment from another company. KPK found that this second company contracted Bregu shpk to build in Pogradec and the two companies had a long working relationship.
Judge Rapi countered these findings by saying that he had never allowed himself “to be in a circumstance of conflict of interest”.
KPK also found that the judge had once travelled with an attorney from one of the cases Rapi had tried.
