Olsi Rama and call centers: documented link limited to a 2020 reported former co-ownership; other claims are unproven political allegations
Status: No charge or call-center finding against Olsi Rama in retrieved sources. Pegasus link reported (2020, unverified). Josifi investigation ongoing or unresolved; current status not found.
Summary
MAIN CASE. No registry record, court decision, SPAK document or police finding was retrieved that shows Olsi Rama owning, managing or financing a call-center company. The one documented-as-reported business link is from exit.al (6 March 2020), which quoted OCCRP as saying Olsi Rama co-owned Pegasus Communications shpk, a telecommunications and telemarketing firm, until Amant Josifi sold his shares in December 2017. Exit.al stated that his name came up in the OCCRP call-center investigation and that it did not establish any wrongdoing by him. The OCCRP primary article was not readable (HTTP 403), and the QKB registry was not checked successfully, so this link is unverified.
The call-center allegations against him come mainly from opposition leader Sali Berisha (Democratic Party), who has said since at least 2022 that Olsi Rama backs or protects call centers, that the main boss is the PM's brother, that he fled to Dubai with Josifi, and that his family is protected. Berisha's claims are political statements with no documents attached in the retrieved reporting. Edi Rama responded in December 2022 that his government is not a shield for any activity, that the former official (Josifi) is wanted, and that his brother's name was dragged into a political dispute with no basis (Shqiptarja, 4 Dec 2022). No direct response from Olsi Rama on call centers was found.
Separately, Olsi Rama is connected in reporting to a gambling-monitoring concession (MC Networking shpk) and to the Xibraka drug-lab file. The Xibraka file is covered in existing research (case-xibraka-olsi-rama) and is not a call-center matter; SPAK closure of the Xibraka probe against him is reported second-hand, not as a retrieved SPAK document.
Key facts
- Pegasus Communications shpk: exit.al (6 Mar 2020) quoting OCCRP: Olsi co-owned a telecommunications and telemarketing firm called Pegasus Communications Shpk, until Josifi sold his shares in December 2017.
- Exit.al (6 Mar 2020) adds that the OCCRP article did not say whether Olsi still held a stake, and that it does not claim he had any role in the Milton Group or the scam.
- Amant Josifi was named in 2020 OCCRP and Dagens Nyheter reporting as owner of a Tirana call center tied to the Milton Group network (exit.al, 4 Mar 2020). Olsi Rama is not named in that exit.al article.
- OCCRP reported (December 2022) that Spain issued an arrest warrant for Josifi for fraud and criminal-organisation membership, and that SPAK confirmed the warrant only after press inquiries.
- Edi Rama (Shqiptarja, 4 Dec 2022): the government is not a shield for any activity; the former official is today wanted by justice; the brother's name was brought into a political dispute.
- Sali Berisha (BalkanWeb, page dated 16 Apr 2026 as fetched; date provisional): said the prime minister's brother is the main boss of call centers per foreign sources, that Josifi fled to Dubai accompanied by Olsi Rama, and that Socialist deputies are protecting Olsi. No documents cited.
- Berisha also claimed about 200 call-center businesses in Tirana were backed by Olsi Rama and Josifi (search summary of a Balkanweb piece, not fetched; undated).
- The Olsi Rama and Pegasus link is the only documented business tie to a call-center-type company in the retrieved sources; the Pegasus Communications shpk registry entry (QKB/NIPT) was not found.
The record
Four lists kept apart on purpose: what is established, what is only alleged, what is still open, and what those concerned said.
What is proven (2)
Established by documents or official records, as stated in the research. A recorded charge or indictment proves only that the accusation was made.
- Olsi Rama is the brother of Prime Minister Edi Rama (Wikipedia; consistent across retrieved reporting).
- OCCRP reported (2020) that Amant Josifi owned an Albanian call center named in the Milton Group reporting; exit.al reproduces OCCRP's account. Josifi confirmed owning a call center in Albania (as reported by OCCRP).
What is alleged (4)
Accusations, not findings. Those accused are presumed innocent.
- AllegationThat Olsi Rama co-owned Pegasus Communications shpk until December 2017 (reported by exit.al quoting OCCRP; not checked against a registry).
- AllegationThat Olsi Rama backs, protects or is a main figure behind call centers in Tirana (Sali Berisha; no documents).
- AllegationThat Olsi Rama accompanied Amant Josifi to Dubai (Sali Berisha; not verified; no Dubai record found).
- AllegationThat Olsi Rama is linked to the Milton Group call-center network (Sali Berisha, as summarised; OCCRP and exit.al name Josifi, not Olsi Rama, as the owner of the Tirana center).
Allegations and who made them (6)
Each line is an allegation as recorded, with the person or body that made it where the record names them.
- AllegationSali Berisha (Democratic Party, opposition leader), BalkanWeb, page dated 16 Apr 2026 as fetched: the prime minister's brother is de facto the main boss of the fraudulent call centers, per foreign sources.
- AllegationSali Berisha (BalkanWeb, same article): Josifi fled to Dubai accompanied by Olsi Rama.
- AllegationSali Berisha (BalkanWeb, same article): Socialist deputies are protecting Olsi (headline 'Po mbroni Olsin!').
- AllegationSali Berisha (search summaries of BalkanWeb and OCCRP, 2022-2026): call centers are protected by state institutions, naming the Tax Office and the Police, and Olsi Rama is one of the biggest figures in call-center thefts against foreign citizens. Not verified; no document cited in retrieved text.
- AllegationSali Berisha (OCCRP, December 2022, as summarised in search results): called for an investigation into whether Josifi's call centers had been protected by the prime minister and his brother Olsi.
- AllegationBelind Kellici (Democratic Party deputy, BalkanWeb, undated, search summary only): a close associate of Olsi Rama bought a casino in the Air Albania tower. Not a call-center claim; recorded because it is part of the same opposition allegation set.
Open questions (4)
- Is Pegasus Communications shpk registered in QKB, under which NIPT, and who were the shareholders and directors before and after December 2017?
- Did Olsi Rama hold any stake in Pegasus Communications shpk or any call-center company at any date?
- What did the OCCRP 2020 Fraud Factory article say verbatim about Olsi Rama and Pegasus (its page returned HTTP 403)?
- Did SPAK open any file on call-center companies linked to Olsi Rama? A reported SPAK reply to OCCRP citing an investigative secret was seen only in a search summary.
Responses (4)
Responses of the people and organisations concerned, as recorded.
- Edi Rama (Shqiptarja, 4 Dec 2022): 'Qeveria jone nuk eshte mburoje e asnje aktiviteti' (our government is not a shield for any activity); if the person had state protection he would not be wanted today; on his brother's name, no basis for the link (Albanian quotes in the article; translation in claims).
- Edi Rama (search summary of OCCRP, Dec 2022): denied any connection to Josifi without naming him, and said the government was not shielding him from prosecution.
- Olsi Rama: no response on call-center claims was found in the retrieved sources. His filings against Gazment Bardhi concern the Xibraka file, not call centers.
- Sali Berisha's allegations received no documented response from the government beyond Edi Rama's 2022 denial (retrieved sources).
Timeline
Full timeline →Media
OCCRP and Dagens Nyheter name Amant Josifi as owner of Tirana call center in Milton Group scam network (as reported by exit.al)
Exit.al article. Olsi Rama is not mentioned in this article. Josifi says he is a passive owner; Keselman (Milton) denied to OCCRP that its call centers run a scam; the Ministry of Defence gave no response.
Media
Exit.al reports OCCRP account that Olsi Rama co-owned Pegasus Communications shpk until Josifi sold shares (Dec 2017)
Exit.al article quoting OCCRP. The only retrieved source for the Olsi Rama and Pegasus Communications link. The article says it does not claim Olsi had a role in the scam. No response from Olsi Rama or the government is reported.
Government
Edi Rama denies government shields Amant Josifi; says brother's name was dragged into political dispute
Shqiptarja report of Rama's statement. Rama said the government is not a shield for any activity and that the former official is wanted by justice; on his brother, he said there is no basis for linking him to the case. Olsi Rama is not quoted in the fetched text.
Parliament
Sali Berisha says Olsi Rama is main boss of call centers and that Socialists protect him
BalkanWeb report as fetched. The page showed 16 Apr 2026 but also showed later-dated related stories, so the publication date is provisional. Political claims; no documents cited; no Rama response in the article.
Sources for this record
Every source the research cites for this record, grouped by its source label. 7 sources.
Source label: Officially reportedOfficially reported · 1 source
- Publisher
- Shqiptarja
- Date
- 4 Dec 2022
Source label: Under investigationUnder investigation · 2 sources
- Publisher
- exit.al
- Date
- 4 Mar 2020
- Publisher
- OCCRP
- Date
- 2020
Source label: UnverifiedUnverified · 4 sources
- Publisher
- exit.al
- Date
- 6 Mar 2020
- Publisher
- BalkanWeb
- Date
- 16 Apr 2026
- Publisher
- Wikipedia
- Date
- Jun 2026
- Publisher
- Open Procurement Albania
- Date
- 2026