Man who sold land to develop Kushner-backed Albania investigated for money laundering, drug trafficking

An Albanian-American man who sold land for a luxury development backed by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is being investigated for drug trafficking and money laundering, Albanian court records reviewed by CBS News show.

Controversial plans to build resorts on long-protected coastal areas have sparked mass protests in Albania’s capital Tirana.

Artur Shehu, a Miami resident with dual citizenship of the US and Albania, is being investigated by Albanian prosecutors who say there is “sufficient evidence” of his “involvement in the criminal activity of drug trafficking,” and “sufficient data” suggesting he falsified financial documents regarding other real estate and construction projects, according to court documents dated June 10, obtained by CBS News.

Florida public records link Shehu to an address in Miami Beach.

Albania’s independent anti-corruption agency, SPAK, said last month it had issued arrest warrants for 15 Albanian citizens on suspicion of international drug trafficking and money laundering, but had not yet charged the people involved.

Thousands of Albanians have taken to the streets of the country’s capital Tirana for more than a month in protests sparked by concerns over the development of luxury tourism – and the legislation that allows it – in the area of ​​natural beauty.

Kushner, who is married to the eldest daughter of Mr. Ivanka Trump is among a group of investors who want to build a tourism complex along the coast of the country’s Adriatic.

Kushner announced his involvement in the project in 2024, and Ivanka talked about her and her husband’s plans for the resort while speaking on the “Founders” podcast last month.

Outrage over the plans for Zvërnec, a historically protected area rich in wildlife, quickly grew into a movement against alleged corruption in the Albanian government and the country’s ruling elite. Activists have dubbed the protests the “flamingo revolution,” referring to wildlife that tourism development threatens.

Shehu sold to Albania Land Development LLC, a company linked to investors including Kushner.

In addition to the investigation revealed by the court documents, he is facing a related investigation by the Albanian authorities.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Project (OCCRP), a non-profit global investigative news agency, reported last month that it had received an Albanian court order identifying a frozen bank account containing more than $127 million from land sales “between the Artur Shehu and Albanian Land Development groups.”

CBS News sought that court order this week, and a spokesman for Albania’s Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime acknowledged it existed, but said the court could not release the document as the case is “in the preliminary investigation phase.”

The OCCRP also reported last month that SPAK prosecutors were investigating whether the land planned for development was fraudulently acquired by Shehu.

A spokeswoman for SPAK confirmed to CBS News in June that it had opened an investigation into the planned development, but the agency said the investigation “does not affect a company associated with Mr. Kushner.”

Court records from 2013 reviewed by CBS News show that Shehu’s previous ownership was contested by Zvërnec residents, who claimed they had rights to the land. Those residents are still legally challenging Shehu’s right to sell the land, according to the Albanian prime minister’s office.

Shehu told an Albanian television program last month that his bid for the land was “irrefutable” and that he sold it to investors through an undisclosed middleman. He said he did not know who bought the land, Reuters reported last month.

Public records show that Albania Land Development, the company Shehu sold the land to, is owned by a complex network of shell companies, including Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, a company incorporated in Qatar.

Last month, CBS News contacted Kushner’s investment firm Affinity Partners for comment on the development. The company referred CBS News to Sazan Real Estate Development, and a spokesperson for that company said it represents all investors in the project “who are involved in their work.”

CBS News sought comment from both Shehu and Sazan Real Estate Development LLC about the investigation and they had not responded by press time.