Running a car wash in Sussex, Albanian kicked out of Britain over gang shooting
AN ALBANIAN gangster deported from Britain for shooting a rival six times in a cold-blooded attempted murder in his homeland, is back in the UK running a car wash, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Riza Vatoci, 49, was tracked down to his business in quiet Bognor Regis, West Sussex, last week by this newspaper. Our reporter saw him arrive in a black Jaguar and look on while four employees cleaned a steady flow of vehicles.
But after being contacted by the MoS, the Home Office is taking ‘immediate steps’ to strip Vatoci of his citizenship.
Arrested in Albania in 1996 for attempted murder, believed to be in revenge for the death of his brother, he escaped after five months and in 1998 was sentenced to 15 years in jail in his absence.
Coming to the UK in 1999, he claimed to be a refugee from Kosovo, sought asylum and was eventually allowed to remain. Granted British citizenship in 2006, he is thought to have claimed thousands of pounds in benefits.
But after Interpol issued an arrest warrant, Vatoci was arrested. He waged a costly legal battle, claiming that his human rights would be breached if he was sent back to
Albania. He was deported in 2012 but released after two months in jail in Albania, successfully arguing the sentence no longer applied under Albanian law. Still holding a British passport, Vatoci returned to the UK where he registered companies under his own name. But after the MoS alerted the authorities, Home Office officials began ‘taking immediate steps’ to remove Vatoci’s British citizenship, on the basis that he falsely claimed to be a Kosovan refugee.
Vatoci is understood to live with his wife and children while running the Express hand car wash in Bognor Regis. The company is registered with his wife, Gjyle Vata, and himself as directors under the name Sussex Valeting.
Approached for comment at his car wash, Vatoci told our reporter: ‘I served my sentence and have been back here a long time.’
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘ The Home Office can ensure a person does not continue to hold Bri t i s h c i t i z e ns hi p if i t was deemed t o have been f r audulently obtained.’