NABU and SAPO have exposed a criminal organisation which, according to investigators, was created and led in 2025 by one of the heads of a structural unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office. In total, five people are under suspicion.
This was reported by the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the investigation, the head of a unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office brought in employees of the prosecution authorities and individuals close to him.
Those involved in the scheme, law enforcement say, systematically received illicit benefits in return for not obstructing the work of so-called call centres that defrauded large numbers of Ukrainian citizens and foreigners.
As NABU detectives established, the organisation’s members laundered the proceeds by purchasing property, jewellery and other valuable movable assets. The total value of such assets exceeds UAH 20 million.
A further more than UAH 10 million, according to investigators, was laundered through the accounts of close associates. The funds were presented as income from business activities.
In addition, the organiser, through other participants in the scheme, laundered assets acquired earlier.
This involved re-registering real estate properties in the names of third parties. According to investigators, this was done to conceal the true ownership of the property and the rights to it.
Among these assets are properties in a popular apartment complex near the Carpathians. Their minimum market value exceeds UAH 12 million.
So far, NABU and SAPO have identified five individuals. They are suspected of creating, leading and participating in a criminal organisation whose members, according to investigators, jointly committed serious and especially serious crimes.
The criminal proceedings are being investigated under Articles 255 and 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — concerning the creation of and participation in a criminal organisation, as well as the laundering of property obtained by criminal means.
Under Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court’s guilty verdict.
Operation “Carthage”: What We Know
- On 4 September, NABU and SAPO announced a special operation to expose a criminal organisation “headed by an official of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine”.
- According to NABU and SAPO, members of the organisation may be involved in providing “protection” to a network of fraudulent call centres and laundering assets.
- The Prosecutor General’s Office responded to the possible involvement of one employee in dealings with fraudulent call centres. It said all circumstances must be established by the investigation.