Operation Carthage: NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office Have Notified the Former Head of a Department at the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Charges Against Him

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office have notified the former head of one of the departments of the Office of the Prosecutor General that he is under suspicion. He is suspected of participating in a criminal organization uncovered during the large-scale “Carthage” operation, which involved the illegal “protection” of fraudulent call centers.

According to the investigation, the former official played one of the key roles in the operation of the criminal scheme. He was directly responsible for communicating with representatives of the illegal call centers and systematically receiving funds from them.

In addition, according to investigators, his duties included ensuring the overall security and secrecy of the criminal organization’s members, as well as recruiting others to participate in illegal activities.

The total amount of documented illicit gains exceeds 1 billion hryvnias.

The suspect’s actions were classified under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Part 3 of Article 255—participation in a criminal organization;
• Part 5 of Article 27 and Part 4 of Article 368 — aiding and abetting a public official in obtaining unlawful benefits.

The investigation is currently ongoing. Law enforcement officials are identifying other individuals involved in the criminal organization’s activities.

Operation “Carthage” is aimed at dismantling a criminal organization that systematically provided illegal protection for a network of fraudulent call centers throughout Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the leader of the group was one of the heads of a structural unit within the Office of the Prosecutor General.

For a monthly fee, members of the organization, according to law enforcement officials, guaranteed the owners of illegal call centers protection from criminal prosecution and the blocking of investigations.

The investigation is ongoing, and law enforcement officials continue to identify all those involved in the scheme. The charges filed are procedural decisions and do not imply a finding of guilt until a court issues a final conviction.

This was reported by NABU and the SAP.

As a reminder, Viktoria Didych, the dismissed head of a department at the Cherkasy Regional Prosecutor’s Office—who is the sister of Serhiy Kropiva — the main suspect in NABU’s “Carthage” investigation — was involved in the “crackdown” on a chicken producer in the Cherkasy region.

As a reminder, Kropiva’s driver was released from pretrial detention on bail of 3 million hryvnias in the “Carthage” case.

A prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) denied that Kropiva was on a business trip to Lviv. 

Prosecutor Kropiva, a figure in the NABU investigation, secured a pension of 300,000 at the age of 42 through the courts.