The Prishtina Basic Court has remanded in thirty day custody Spartak Dërmaku, Arian Alijaj, and Blerim Krasniqi, who the Kosovo Special Prosecution accuses of defrauding citizens for financial gain and to finance terrorism, mainly using cryptocurrency.

According to the prosecution, the main activity of the organized criminal group was to defraud and coerce the injured parties for financial gain to then intentionally and knowingly provide funds to different organizations with the aim of financing or contributing to the commission of terrorist acts. 

The prosecution file, seen by KALLXO.com, alleges that on October 31, 2023, Krasniqi used an account in Binance, registered under the name Boris Nikolovski, to send 310 USDT (a cryptocurrency which always maintains the value of $1 USD) to a mediary account “to lose the trail.” Then he transferred the money from the mediary account to an account which was shared in the group Fatasbiqul Khayrat in Telegram messaging app. 

The Telegram group Fatasbiqul Khayrat “targets a German audience to raise funds for the purpose of financing terrorism,” the prosecution file reads. Nikolovski is a fictional character from North Macedonia, according to the Kosovo prosecution.

The prosecution alleges that Krasniqi, also known as Bixha, acted on Dërmaku’s instructions.

According to the prosecution, Dërmaku, also known by the nickname Syla, and Alijaj, known as Abdul Hakimin, generated substantial turnover through the Prishtina-based cryptocurrency exchange business Tresor Exchange, as well as through other local and international fraud schemes targeting mainly European countries.

The prosecution explains that the accused accumulated wealth as well as luxury cars and other assets “by converting money into crypto assets and then transferring these assets to accounts dedicated to money laundering, as well as exchanging and selling cryptocurrencies to other persons, receiving cash,” via criminal activities in Switzerland, Kosovo, and North Macedonia. 

In another case, on August 10, 2024, Dërmaku, using three different accounts to cover his trail, transferred 800 USDT and two weeks later, on August 23, 2024, transferred 350 USDT, to an account shared in the Telegram group GebtAus. The prosecution believes  that this group is also used to target German speakers to collect funds to finance terrorism. 

According to the prosecution, a couple of months later, on October 14, 2024, Dërmaku sent around 972 USDT to the same account. 

The accused are also charged with illegal possession of weapons and money laundering. The prosecution claims that falsified documents were used to transfer over 152 thousand USDT to Krasniqi’s account under the fake name of Boris Nikolovski.