New evidence casts doubt on the validity of Belgium court’s decision to award €100mn to an Italian businessman and former owner of UK football club Leyton Orient, Franchesco Becchetti, in an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID arbitration case with the Republic of Albania, bne IntelliNews can reveal.

Becchetti and the Republic of Albania are in dispute after he won cases against the Republic of Albania, and the French-speaking Court of First Instance in Brussels ruled on October 17 that Eurocontrol, the European organisation for the safety of air navigation, should pay overflight fees earned by Albania to Becchetti, effectively seizing Albania foreign assets to settle the claim.

However, an investigative firm hired by Albania has produced evidence seen by bne IntelliNews that suggests Becchetti interfered with the arbitration process to produce a ruling in his favour.

Becchetti had invested in Albanian energy and media among other things. He was the founder of the Albanian television channel Agon Channel, which was often critical of the Albanian government, and his relationship with the Albanian government deteriorated, leading to a series of legal disputes.

The Albanian government accused him of financial wrongdoing, including charges of money laundering and tax evasion. Becchetti countered by field international arbitration claims against the Republic of Albania, alleging that the government was targeting him unfairly and that its actions were politically motivated.

In 2019, an international arbitration tribunal ruled in Becchetti’s favour, finding that the Albanian government had violated its obligations to protect foreign investments. The tribunal ordered Albania to pay Becchetti substantial compensation. Part of the enforcement of this arbitration award involved targeting Albania’s assets abroad, including seizing the aviation fees held by Eurocontrol as part of the compensation owed to him by the Albanian government.

Investigation evidence

The Albanian government has appealed against the Belgium court’s decision to award Becchetti the €100mn of aviation fees in multiple jurisdictions, challenging the validity of the arbitration and presenting significant new evidence.

The investigation firm held multiple interviews with people associated and recorded them. It also issued a report listing the main findings and partial transcripts of key interviews.

Agents of the firm interviewed Marco Giontella, a tax consultant and long-time associate of Becchetti, several times. According to the report of the Investigation Firm based on these conversations, “Becchetti orchestrates premeditated fraud schemes to win arbitrations.” The report goes on to claim that Becchetti manipulates the outcomes by building up connections and “corrupt practices”, which allows him to seek favourable results, citing the evidence presented in the conversations with Giontella.

The report claims, based on its interviews, that Deutsche Bank was also a victim in a similar arbitration case with Becchetti.

As part of the Kalivac Hydro-Plant Project, Becchetti signed joint venture agreements with various entities, including with Albanian state bodies and inter alia with Deutsche Bank AG. However, the project went sour and in 2010 Becchetti and Deutsche Bank started arbitration proceedings, each accusing the other of breaching the joint venture agreements.

“In the Deutsche Bank case, Mr Becchetti employed a similar method of controlling the nomination of the president of the arbitration, with the full help and cooperation of Mr Giontella,” the report says.

Secondly the report claims citing its interviewees that Becchetti seeks to “influence the nominations of arbitrators in his cases and their decisions through bribes.” In particular the investigators claim it has evidence that Becchetti secured the appointed arbitrator’s agreement to rule in his favour in the proceedings, euroreporter reports.

In another arbitration case Becchetti allegedly influenced the nomination of the president of the court and Becchetti’s counsel in the ICSID case enjoyed a personal friendship with the chairman of the arbitral tribunal that compromised the integrity of the arbitration proceedings, the report claims.

The report also provided a statement from the expert witness, an Italian university lecturer Alberto Pasquale, in the ICSID case admitting that he lied to the arbitral tribunal, and that no actual damage was caused to Becchetti.

“Mr Pasquale affirmed that he breached his duties as an unbiased expert witness through close interactions with Mr Becchetti, referred by him as "the Boss" in the case against the Respondent. In his misleading valuation, Mr Pasquale knowingly provided false indications and statements on Agon Channel’s improvement and growth, while holding a totally different professional personal opinion (for which he was hired) – that Agon Channel had no chance to grow,” the report claims. “Mr. Pasquale confirmed that his role was to serve the paying party’s (Mr Becchetti) interests in the ICSID proceedings, rather than serving as an independent and objective expert.”

The Investigation Firm’s report and all the associated videos of the interviews have been submitted to the court in Brussels in support of Tirana’s calls for the decision to award Becchetti €100mn to be overturned, as well as submitted in all the other legal cases launched by the government of Albania since.

Aviation safety

The Republic of Albania is one of 41 member states of Eurocontrol, which manages and collects fees paid by airlines for flying over European territories. These fees are then redistributed to member countries, including Albania, and are used for traffic management and ensuring safety in the skies.

The Seizure Judge in Brussels ruled that Eurocontrol has a legal obligation to transfer the frozen funds to Becchetti's bailiff as part of an earlier compensation decision against the government of Albania brought by Becchetti. The court also ruled that any related appeals should not prevent or delay the payment.

Tirana has said that the decision could put aviation safety and essential public finances at risk. It argues that it cannot comply for reasons of national security. Moreover, the government says that the court has disregarded the new evidence it has submitted accusing Becchetti of manipulating the arbitration process.

The case has raised questions about the fairness and impartiality of the Belgium legal system. Moreover, the proceeding was marred by the unusual change of judges midway through the process, which has added to concerns of potential conflicts of interest.

Among Tirana’s legal challenges to the decision is a pending annulment request filed with the Paris Court of Appeal and it has also submitted a revision application of the ICSID award. Additionally, has appealed to the Belgian Supreme Court arguing that the funds held by Eurocontrol are vital to the aviation safety of the country and so should be protected.