Kushner-linked Albania resort: Sazan Island and Zvërnec land dispute, prosecutors' probe of the land seller, and the October 2026 protests

Case

Albania's government gave strategic-investor status in December 2024 to a company linked to Jared Kushner for a 1.4 billion euro resort on Sazan Island, and a larger Zvërnec coast development is backed by Kushner's Affinity Partners. Since May 2026, villagers and environmental groups have protested the Zvërnec project, and Albanian anti-corruption prosecutors are investigating the businessman who sold the land, with reporting that funds tied to the purchase were frozen. Protests that began Oct. 13 widened into anti-government unrest, and the Supreme Court offices in Tirana were set on fire on Oct. 17. Reporting says Kushner is not accused of wrongdoing, and his spokesperson declined to comment; the developers say the project is not an Affinity project.

The project and its approval (2024-2025)
Albania's Strategic Investment Committee, headed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, accepted on Dec. 30, 2024 a proposal by Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, a company Reuters links to Jared Kushner, for a 45-hectare luxury resort on the uninhabited island of Sazan, with a planned investment of 1.4 billion euros and an estimated 1,000 jobs. The committee said the state would take part through a joint entity including the state-run Albanian Investment Corporation.
Reuters reported that Kushner had announced a resort in Zvërnec, southern Albania, in 2024 as part of Affinity Partners' Balkan investments, and that Reuters could not reach Atlantic Incubation Partners for comment. The report did not include a statement from Kushner.
A June 2026 report citing Reuters describes the Sazan project as a roughly $1.4 billion resort alongside a wider Zvërnec coast development valued near $4.7 billion, and says the project has no building permit and construction has not started, per Rama.

The land dispute and the prosecutors' probe (May-July 2026)
About a dozen Zvërnec villagers told Reuters their land was sold without their right to development; their lawyer, Kostandin Beko, says an Albanian court recognized them as the rightful owners in 2013, a ruling the seller appealed, so it remains unresolved. Reuters could not independently verify their claims.
The seller is Artur Shehu, a Miami-area resident who left Albania in 1999. Italian authorities investigated him over alleged dealings for Italian mobsters but he was never charged, and Albanian anti-corruption prosecutors (SPAK) are reportedly probing him for large-scale money laundering. He calls his claim to the land undisputed and says he sold through a middleman and did not know the eventual buyer.
Newsweek, citing case files Reuters reviewed, reports that SPAK alleges Shehu used falsified ownership records to acquire land that he sold in April to Albania Land Development, a company tied to the resort's developers, and that the files also accuse him of money laundering and drug trafficking. SPAK has frozen about 110 million euros from the sale, and a SPAK spokesperson confirmed the investigation. Shehu's attorney says the allegations are untrue and the family lawfully owned the land for generations.
EUalive reported in June that SPAK froze accounts of Albania Land Development, owned by Qatari investors Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat, holding about $195 million transferred for land purchases, and that the freeze was reportedly lifted within days. SPAK has not publicly confirmed the seizure or its reversal. The two accounts of the freeze differ in amount and timing and are not reconciled here.
The case files do not accuse Kushner, the developers or other investors of wrongdoing, and Reuters found no indication that investors knew of suspicions about Shehu when the land was bought.

The October 2026 protests and the Supreme Court fire
Protests against the Zvërnec development began in May 2026 and had grown to their largest size by June; the project's critics include environmental groups and opposition leaders who want permits made public.
Protests that began Oct. 13, 2026 over the planned resort have widened into a challenge to Rama's government over corruption, education and jobs. Protesters set fire to the Supreme Court offices in Tirana and the entrance of the Bank of Albania late on Oct. 17; the extent of the damage was not immediately clear, and Al Jazeera's report does not say who started the fire.
Police reported 167 arrests and said 272 people had been injured since Oct. 13, including 169 police officers; seven officers were suspended pending an inquiry into whether they exceeded their authority.
IBTimes says it has not been confirmed that Kushner's firm, Affinity Partners, bought the fenced-off land near Zvërnec, and that Reuters found no evidence of wrongdoing by Kushner, who is not directly involved in the villagers' dispute.

Perspectives

Defender — Sazan Real Estate Development (the developer)
The project is not an Affinity project and its U.S. partners are involved in a personal capacity. The company is not a party to the prosecutors' matter and is not the subject of any investigation, and it believes the land acquisitions were lawful. Kushner's spokesperson declined to comment to Reuters.

Official position — Prime Minister Edi Rama
The project will modernize Albania; the land is privately owned and was legally acquired, and he has backed probing suspicious prior owners. He refuses to resign, saying governments change through elections and not violence, and has blamed unspecified foreign interests for the unrest. He said in June there was absolutely no chance the investment would stop while he remained in office.

Critic — Zvërnec villagers, conservation groups and opposition leaders
The land was sold without the villagers' consent and the project threatens a protected coastal ecosystem. Conservation groups and opposition leaders criticize a lack of transparency and alleged political influence and want the permits made public. Villagers plan to seek a court order to halt the project.

Research notes
Why this is on GREED: Jared Kushner is President Trump's son-in-law and, per other entries, also serves as a U.S. special envoy while his firm invests abroad. This entry covers the Albanian project and the protests; it does not allege that anything about the project is connected to U.S. policy.\n\nSourcing: Reuters reporting is cited through licensed syndicated copies (Yahoo) and Newsweek, which reviewed Reuters' account of SPAK case files. The Oct. 2026 protest coverage is from Al Jazeera and IBTimes. A viral Instagram video described these as anti-Kushner protests; the reporting describes protests against a resort project Kushner is linked to that have broadened into anti-corruption, education and jobs complaints.\n\nWhat the sources do not establish: that Kushner or Affinity Partners bought or controls the Zvërnec land (IBTimes says this is not confirmed); that Kushner knew of any suspicion about the seller (Reuters found no indication investors did); that the Supreme Court fire was caused by the resort dispute rather than the wider unrest; who started the fire.\n\nOpen leads:\n- The Reuters originals on the SPAK case files and the villagers' land claims.\n- Reconciling the frozen amounts: about $195 million reported in June (EUalive, reportedly lifted within days, not confirmed by SPAK) versus about 110 million euros in Newsweek's July account of the Reuters files.\n- Affinity Partners' own statement on its role.\n- Court rulings in the villagers' ownership case and any suspension of the project.\n- Any link between the project and Kushner's role as U.S. envoy.

Note
Whether Kushner or Affinity Partners owns or controls the Zvërnec land and project is contested: the developers say it is not an Affinity project and that their U.S. partners are involved in a personal capacity, while press reports describe Affinity as a backer. No source accuses Kushner of wrongdoing.

Sources
[1] Reuters via Yahoo News — Albania approves luxury resort project linked to Jared Kushner's company (https://sg.news.yahoo.com/albania-approves-luxury-resort-project-132236130.html) · 2025-01-16
[2] Daily Beast via Yahoo News — Albania Resort Project by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner Faces Land Dispute (citing Reuters) (https://sg.news.yahoo.com/albania-resort-project-ivanka-trump-171110944.html) · 2026-06-13
[3] EUalive — Albanian anti-corruption prosecutors freeze assets linked to Kushner-backed luxury resort project (https://eualive.net/albanian-anti-corruption-prosecutors-freeze-assets-linked-to-kushner-backed-luxury-resort-project/) · 2026-06-07
[4] Newsweek — Forged-Deed Claims Emerge in Fight Over Kushner Resort Site (citing Reuters review of SPAK case files) (https://www.newsweek.com/forged-deed-claims-emerge-in-fight-over-kushner-resort-site-12185763) · 2026-07-11
[5] IBTimes — 'Our Land, Our Albania': Supreme Court Burns as Anger Over Jared Kushner-Linked Resort Fuels Revolt (https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/albania-protests-supreme-court-tirana-resort-1826438) · 2026-10-19
[6] Al Jazeera — Fire engulfs Albania's Supreme Court as protests enter fifth day (https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/10/18/albania-protests-supreme-court-fire) · 2026-10-18

Connections

Related — Foreign-government payments to Trump properties and the emoluments lawsuits (2017-2021; Oversight report 2024)
Both involve Trump-family business interests with foreign governments or investors; this entry involves a government-backed project, not payments to Trump properties.

Same actor — Jared Kushner as U.S. special envoy: Affinity Partners' Gulf fundraising and Israeli war-linked holdings during the Iran war (2025-2026)
Both concern Jared Kushner and Affinity Partners' overseas investments; this entry covers the Albanian resort and the land dispute, with no source tying it to his envoy role.