TIRANA, OCTOBER 28, 2010     Representatives of Albania’s six regional Joint Investigative Units (JIUs), established in 2009 with the support of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Stage II Threshold Program, attended today a two-day conference in Tirana on investigating financial crimes and corruption cases.  Members of the JIU task forces—Albanian prosecutors, judicial police officers, customs officials, and tax investigators— haved work together to investigate economic crimes and corruption.  To date, JIUs have successfully investigated 588 cases, of which 88 have been brought to trial by Albanian prosecutors.

At the opening of the conference, U.S. Department of Justice representative Cynthia Eldridge presented the “Guidebook to Corruption and Financial Crimes Investigation,” written by U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training (OPDAT) -- in collaboration with the EU Project Against Corruption in Albania (PACA), a working group of prosecutors, and the School of Magistrates.  In the coming weeks, OPDAT’s resident legal advisors will conduct additional training sessions in Pogradec and Vlora for JIU members. Through the MCC program, OPDAT has established and is currently equipping and training six regional Joint Investigative Units, modeled after the Tirana JIU in Vlorë, Fier, Korcë, Gjirokastër, Durrës, and Shkodër.

USAID Mission Director Joseph C. Williams joined Albania’s Prosecutor General, Ina Rama, and Minister of Interior, Lulzim Basha, at the opening of the conference.