Kosovo Citizen Arrested for Usury After BIRN Contacted Prosecutors

Kosovo police have arrested a man named as Driton Podrimqaku after a citizen from the western Kosovo town of Peja/ Pec reported to BIRN about being the victim of usury - defined in Kosovo law as taking advantage of a person's economic circumstances to extract disproportionate services or rates of interest on loans.

Several weeks ago the man from Peja/ Pec went to the BIRN Kosovo office to report that he had borrowed 10,000 euros from Podrimqaku at an interest rate of 1,000 euros per month, which increased sharply in case the borrower did not pay back in time.

"The debt has already increased up to 60,000 euros, if not more… Until December I paid, but since December I have not been able to pay anymore because my economic situation is very bad, I do not have a job," the victim told Peja/Pec prosecutor Ersan Qavolli after BIRN Kosovo sent the case to the local prosecution.

Prosecutor Qavolli together with a team of BIRN Kosovo journalists monitored the actions of the suspect the moment the victim handed over some more money.

The suspect took the money and immediately fled, also endangering the life of a police officer by attacking him with his escape vehicle as soon as the police officer tried to stop the suspect.

Prosecutor Qavolli ordered every exit route in Peja/ Pec to be closed and the suspect to be put on the stop-list so he would not be able to leave Kosovo. Meanwhile, police raided his house.

Podrimqaku eventually turned himself in and is charged with two criminal offences, usury and assault on an official person. The Peja/ Pec Basic Court has ordered 30 days of detention.