Albanian gangster kicked out of Britain for shooting a rival six times in a cold-blooded attempted murder is still in UK running a car wash – EIGHT MONTHS after Home Office vowed to deport him
- Albanian gangster Riza Vatoci, aged 49, is back in the UK running a car wash
- He was deported from Britain for shooting rival six times in attempted murder
- But he returned using a UK passport he got by claiming to be a Kosovan refugee
- In January the Home Office said it was taking ‘immediate steps’ to revoke his British passport
- However, eight months on and Vatoci is still working at his Bognor Regis firm
- Vatoci is thought to have claimed thousands of pounds in benefits in Britain
An Albanian gangster who returned to Britain after being deported for shooting a rival six times in a cold-blooded attempted murder in his homeland is still living in the UK eight months after the Home Office vowed to kick him out of the country.
Riza Vatoci runs a car wash in the seaside town of Bognor Regis, West Sussex, despite the UK government promising in January to take ‘immediate steps’ to revoke his British passport.
The Home Office promised to act after the greying was seen arriving at his car wash in a black Jaguar where he runs four staff.
But last week our reporter saw him still working at Express hand car wash to the astonishment of those working nearby.
When approached by MailOnline the 49-year-old refused to comment.
Riza Vatoci (pictured), 49, is still living and running his car wash in the UK – eight months after the Home Office to take ‘immediate steps’ to revoke the Albanian gangster’s British passport
Vatoci (seen working at the car wash he runs in Bognor Regis last week) was deported from the UK over an attempted murder in his homeland, but returned to Britain upon his release
The government said it would start the process of deporting Vatoci, who runs the Express car wash (above), because he got a British passport by claiming to be a Kosovan refugee
Vatoci fled Albania after being arrested in 1996 for attempted murder. He shot a rival six times in revenge for the death of his brother.
He arrived in the UK in 1999 claiming to be a Kosovan refugee seeking asylum and was granted British citizenship in 2006 after claiming thousands of taxpayer pounds in benefits.
Vatoci, who was sentenced to 15-years in jail in Albania in his absence, was eventually tracked down to West Sussex by Interpol.
He waged a costly legal battle claiming that his human rights would be breached if he was sent back to his home country but he lost and was deported in 2012.
Incredibly, he served just two months in jail in Albania after successfully arguing that the sentence no longer applied under the country’s law.
Vatoci returned to the UK after successfully appealing his sentence in Albania and set up a firm called Sussex Valeting of which he and 34-year-old wife Gjyle Vata are both listed as directors
Still a British passport holder, Vatoci returned to the UK where he has set up a company called Sussex Valeting of which he and 34-year-old wife Gjyle Vata are both listed as directors.
His deception was revealed at the start of this year when the Mail on Sunday newspaper alerted Home Office officials who began to remove Vatoci’s British citizenship on the basis that he falsely claimed to be a Kosovan refugee.
However, he is still running the Express Hand Car Wash and living nearby with his wife and children.
The Home Office say they cannot comment fully on the case as legal proceedings are ongoing but a spokesman said briefly: ‘Citizenship is a privilege not a right. The Home Office can ensure a person does not continue to hold British citizenship if it was deemed to have been fraudulently obtained
Vatoci declined to comment on the case when he was approached by MailOnline at the car wash (pictured) last week, angrily telling our reporter to leave the premises
Car washes in Britain – including a number run by Albanians – have been widely linked to crime although there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing at the Express car wash in Bognor owned by Mr Vatoci.
MPs were told that the ‘majority of hand car washes may have some illegality around them’ as part of a parliamentary report into the industry.
The Environmental Audit committee found a ‘spectrum of exploitation’. And investigators have also found car washes may be linked to street drugs, the illegal sale of tobacco and even prostitution.
In 2018, the Safe Car Wash app was launched so that members of the public could report suspected exploitation.