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The investment career of Jared Kushner, a top advisor to former US President Donald Trump and son-in-law, has hit a major roadblock in Albania. A planned Mediterranean resort on a disputed coastal land has raised eyebrows in the Balkan country, where locals claim the property belongs to them and was stolen by a suspected gangster. The controversy has sparked a wave of protests in Tirana and brought unwanted attention to Kushner’s foreign real estate ambitions.
The land in question is located on the Zvërnec peninsula, a slim stretch of land sandwiched between the azure sea and a lagoon teeming with flamingos. Residents of the village have long disputed the ownership of the property with Artur Shehu, a suspected gangster who fled to Miami in 2011 after a gunfight at his bar. The villagers claimed they had been locked in nearly two decades of court disputes with Shehu, warning developers not to proceed with the project.
Despite the locals’ concerns, a Kushner-backed development group purchased the land from Shehu for over $120 million earlier this year. Two months later, Albanian prosecutors sought Shehu’s arrest on allegations of being a key figure in an international drug-smuggling operation that brought cocaine from South America to Europe in shipments of charcoal and fruit paste. Shehu allegedly laundered money through property, including the disputed Zvërnec land, using forged Ottoman-era land records.
Kushner’s involvement in this project has raised questions about his judgment and business practices. While his post-2020 business career has seen him invest in various ventures, including a $6 billion private-equity fund backed by Gulf wealth funds, his real estate ambitions have attracted criticism. Kushner had expressed an interest in developing in the Balkans, where tourism and property prices are rising. However, his deal with Serbia’s government to develop state-owned land in central Belgrade fell apart after weeks of protests and the indictment of a cabinet minister who pushed through project approvals.
The controversy in Albania has been amplified by a video showing the Kushner-backed group’s private guards punching a local villager and dragging him across a beach. The incident sparked large daily protests in Tirana, which have continued for over two months. Protesters have expanded their criticism to include endemic corruption and rampant development, a movement they call the Flamingo Revolution.
The scandal comes at a difficult time for Kushner’s business endeavors, which have faced criticism for their close ties to the Trump administration. The involvement of suspected gangsters in Kushner’s real estate deals in the Balkans has raised eyebrows, and the Albanian project has become a focal point for concerns about corruption and foreign influence in the region.
In a sign of growing public discontent, Albanian authorities have begun investigating Kushner’s development group for alleged wrongdoing. The controversy has sparked a debate about the role of foreign investors in Albania’s economy and the need for greater transparency in the country’s real estate market. As the protests continue, the Flamingo Revolution has become a rallying cry for critics of corruption and foreign influence in Albania.