NABU and the SAPO will investigate whether members of the Verkhovna Rada and officials from the Office of the President are involved in a criminal organization

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced a special operation to expose a criminal organization in which current and former members of the Ukrainian Parliament, high-ranking officials from the Office of the President, and other individuals may be involved.

According to preliminary information, investigators are looking into the possible involvement of current and former members of the Verkhovna Rada in the criminal organization’s activities. 

Law enforcement officials are also investigating the possible involvement of high-ranking officials from the Office of the President and other individuals.

NABU noted that details of the special operation will be released at a later date.

The NABU statement, issued in the context of the new special operation, references recent high-profile investigations by anti-corruption agencies.

On May 11, NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced that they had placed former head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak under suspicion. According to law enforcement officials, he may have been linked to an organized group involved in laundering 460 million hryvnias during an elite construction project near Kyiv. The case involves the “Dynasty” housing cooperative.

On May 14, the High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a pretrial detention order on Yermak, with an alternative bail set at 140 million hryvnias. He was taken into custody directly in the courtroom.

A few days later, on May 18, the full amount of bail was posted on Yermak’s behalf, after which he was released from the pretrial detention center. The court ordered him to surrender his passports, not to leave Kyiv, and to wear an electronic ankle monitor.

Another high-profile case involved the investigation into former Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Olga Stefanishyna.

On August 3, she resigned from her post as Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., and on August 5, the NABU and the SAP notified her that she was a suspect in a case of illicit enrichment.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the investigation is examining the acquisition of property by other individuals acting on the suspect’s behalf.

At the same time, NABU has not yet disclosed whether the new special operation is connected to these criminal proceedings. Law enforcement officials promise to provide more details after the relevant investigative actions are completed.

This was reported by NABU on Wednesday, August 19.

Earlier, NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) uncovered new evidence in the case of misconduct during the procurement of drones for the Defense Forces in 2023.

During a briefing in Kyiv, Semen Kryvonos, Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, and Oleksandr Klymenko, Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, reported on new corruption schemes in the “defense sectorthat undermine the country’s defense capabilities and destroy competition.

NABU Director Semen Kryvonos stated that pressure is being exerted on the judges hearing the case of NABU detective Ruslan Magamedrasulov.