Ukraine designates 6 more suspects in $10.5 million money-laundering case tied to Zelensky’s former chief of staff
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine (SAPO) say they have identified six more suspects in a money-laundering case tied to elite residential construction outside Kyiv, involving 460 million hryvnias (approximately $10.5 million).
Each was served with a notice of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 209 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, a charge that carries a prison sentence of eight to 12 years.
The agencies have not disclosed the suspects’ names, saying only that they include a former deputy prime minister of Ukraine and a businessman whom investigators also consider one of the leaders of the criminal group exposed in November 2025 as part of ‘Operation Midas.’
According to a source cited by RBC-Ukraine, the individuals in question are former Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov and businessman Timur Mindich. Previously, former head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak was also named a suspect in the case.
It is unclear from NABU’s statement whether Yermak is among those six suspects or whether seven people in total are now named in the case.
According to investigators, between 2021 and 2025 the suspects laundered more than 460 million hryvnias by financing the construction of a cottage settlement covering approximately eight hectares in the village of Kozyn in Kyiv Oblast. Investigators believe the construction was funded in part with proceeds derived from corrupt schemes at Energoatom.
Andriy Yermak was one of the key allies of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He was widely regarded as the second most influential person in the country after the head of state.
In November 2025, Yermak resigned amid a major corruption scandal linked to embezzlement at Energoatom. Shortly before his resignation, Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities conducted searches at his apartment. However, no charges were brought against him at that time.
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