"ABC News", financing hundreds of thousands of euros from the brother of Erion Veliaj

2024-05-29 11:53:00, Denoncim CNA

"ABC News", financing hundreds of thousands of euros from the brother

Photomontage - Arbër Veliaj and Erion Veliaj

DASH, in a report published in 2023, says that after ABC News changed ownership, there were reports that programs directed by journalists critical of the government were closed and those journalists left the station. ( Read here )

So open and monstrous was such an action that even the US State Department caught its eye.

So, the sale of "ABC News" by an Albanian businessman. A media that had begun to raise its head and turn into a media with full programming, is bought by a name that is usually called "prestanome" by Esat Bojku, who through maneuvers, money transfers with connections of Albanian businessmen from Albania and Kosovo, who make loans or money transfers after a contract, make Esat Boyk the owner of "ABC News".

The scheme is revealed, how "ABC News" was bought by power businessmen
May 28, 15:04
Who bought "Abc News"?
November 13, 14:08

The problem with a television is not simply buying it, the problem is keeping it.

Recently, CNA has been able to provide data on how this media is financed, where millions of euros are paid per year as salaries for staff and working people, for the complete structure of the company.

Tax declarations are reduced

What stands out is the fact that according to the declarations in Taxation, the company has surprisingly reduced salaries, without talking about the mass layoffs that took place on television, which is also mentioned in the DASH report.

On the other hand, there is endless money pouring in from several companies, and one of them belongs to Arbë Veliaj , the man under investigation by SPAK for his wealth, as he is the brother of Erion Veliaj, and the Special Prosecutor's Office has started a full verification of his wealth. his, but also his family members.

Arber Veliaj

Brother of Erion Veliaj, financier of ABC News

Arbër Veliaj is one of the main financiers, there are cases and 70 thousand euros per month payments, maybe even more than Esat Bojku, the owner of this company himself , who actually took a big loan when he manages a company only with losses and this raises other questions as to how a business with so many losses can be given such a loan.

It all actually looks like a scheme to find out the real lender and buyer of the company. In fact, its buyer who developed in Tirana with all the structures, with most of the leaders, etc. was Shkëlqim Devolli, but surprisingly in the last moments he withdrew and there appeared Esat Bojku, a name decided by him, on a television where the "thinkers" of the Renaissance are sheltered who are paid with fat salaries to spout the nonsense of the propaganda of the Municipality of Tirana or the government. ( Read here )

Brilliant Devolli

The transfers of "ABC News", its purchase, the payments made by Arbër Veliaj will be part of the SPAK file to verify the source of these payments, the way this television was purchased and the way it is kept in foot, since such media costs more money to keep it standing than to buy it.

The acquisition scheme includes many names, as does the retention scheme, which features the full clientele of Renaissance power, concessionaires, large companies, which the government directs to advertise through various marketing companies, and the settlement of any business. is we have our space, we have our funds for publication, to cover political orders to finance one media or another.

Media buying

The case of "ABC" is the most classic, where some sponsors who benefit from government concessions, including the brother of Erion Veliaj as one of the main donors through his advertising company and other companies, pay more money than the owner himself for this media.

Erion Veliaj

This is exactly what caused concern in the DASH report and it seems clear that a name has been chosen for its purchase, which is not really the owner, but a chosen one.

The estate of Esat Boyk

Esat Boyku's assets must be verified, his income must be verified. Where did this individual get this income? How can such transactions explode? How can such loans come out for a television company, which in fact has always been loss-making, with at least the declarations reflected in the Taxes from the predecessor?

Today, with the new structure, with the people it has, with the staff, there doesn't seem to be less spending, knowing the "heads" of the media who work on this television. Therefore facts, details and payments tell everything.

"ABC News", financing hundreds of thousands of euros from the brother

How was Erion Veliaj's brother able to pay so much money for a television that is of his weight, that in the media market, even advertising, is where and where with other media, including "Report TV" or other media generalist.

Why should big companies, businesses pay hundreds of thousands of euros for advertising on a television whose audience has had an oppositional spirit and at the moment the line has changed it can be almost zero?

Why should businesses advertise on a television, where its editorial line is government propaganda and you see it in most Albanian media?

Photomontage - Arbër Veliaj and Erion Veliaj

Why should Erion Veliaj's brother and the government's clients spend so much money on a television that does 24 hours of propaganda? On whose order do they send this money? And moreover, they pay more than the owner himself, who does not seem to be an investor who can have the capacity to buy televisions with millions of euros, or to pay salaries with millions of euros.

A scheme that is more clearly done with the company administrators, a scheme that is more clearly done with the payments of advertisers, a scheme that is more clearly done with the buyers, with the new owners and one of the main people in this scheme, with direct funds or indirectly is Arbër Veliaj, the brother of the Mayor of Tirana.

"ABC News" is one of the facts about how the media is related to the government and how the government uses the media./ CNA