The National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) seized a record 630 million hryvnias during searches at Anton Tkachenko’s KIT Group

The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine conducted large-scale searches in connection with a case involving a network of illegal currency exchange offices and seized more than 630 million hryvnias in various currencies. According to UA.News, the investigative actions were carried out at an organization linked to the KIT Group network and its owner, Anton Tkachenko.

The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine reported the record-breaking cash seizure.

According to official information from the Bureau, detectives, in cooperation with the Office of the Prosecutor General, uncovered a shadow financial network through which tens of billions of hryvnias could be diverted from the legal economy each year. The Bureau notes that the case involves the legalization (laundering) of funds obtained through criminal means.

Law enforcement officials report that the network operated with a high degree of secrecy. Hidden vaults, secret compartments, and even tunnels were used to store cash. According to investigators, the activities of the currency exchange offices were coordinated from a single central location. A special system was also used that allowed access to the network’s financial records to be blocked on command.

BEB detectives conducted 30 simultaneous searches. As a result, over 630 million hryvnias in various currencies were seized—the Bureau called this the largest cash seizure in the agency’s history. BEB Director Oleksandr Tsivinsky reported on Telegram that phones, equipment, and rough accounting records were also seized during the searches.

KIT Group operated in the Ukrainian currency exchange market. The National Bank of Ukraine had previously documented the brand’s ties to LLC “FC Liberty Finance” and Anton Tkachenko. The NBU documents noted that “Liberty Finance” used the KIT Group trademark to brand the premises where currency exchange offices operated.

Investigative actions in the criminal proceedings are ongoing. The BEB has not yet reported any suspicions against specific individuals in connection with this operation.