On 6 September, the High Anti-Corruption Court is considering the issue of choosing a preventive measure for Serhii Kropyva, Deputy Head of the Department of International Cooperation at the Prosecutor General’s Office, who is suspected of facilitating the activities of a network of fraudulent call centres and laundering assets.
This was reported by Suspilne.
At the start of the hearing, Kropyva’s lawyers asked the court to postpone consideration of the motion. They explained that the suspect received the documents shortly before the hearing, so the defence did not have time to review them and prepare a written position.
The hearing resumed at 15:00.
A SAPO prosecutor said that, in addition to “providing cover” for the call centres, Kropyva is suspected of laundering assets from August 2025 to September 2026 totalling UAH 41.7 million. During this period, he held—and still holds—a post at the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Anti-Corruption Action Centre writes.
Kropyva is also suspected of laundering assets while working as Deputy Head of the Odesa Regional Administration from August 2023 to May 2025. This concerns the laundering of assets totalling UAH 48.2 million. For the record, the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration at that time—and to this day—remains Oleh Kiper.
“In one of his conversations with his driver, Kropyva noted that he needed to become a Deputy Prosecutor General.
Kropyva: I need to become a deputy, I can feel it.
Driver: You’re basically almost a deputy already.
Kropyva: Yes, but I just don’t want to draw shit onto myself in the information space.
Driver: Yes, yes, they’ll hook you straight away there…
Kropyva: No, I’m done for—there’s so much there that they could nail me for,” the ACC add.
NABU and SAPO Special 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 cover” for a network of fraudulent call centres and laundering assets.
- The Prosecutor General’s Office responded to the possible involvement of one employee in work with fraudulent call centres. It said all circumstances must be established by the investigation.
- According to the findings of the NABU and SAPO investigation, in 2025 one of the heads of a structural unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office created and led a criminal organisation.
- Members of the organisation provided “cover” for fraudulent call centres, earning millions in income as a result. Five people are under suspicion.
- NABU’s video features the organiser—an official of the Prosecutor General’s Office—who is referred to as the “Chancellor”, as well as “Boss”, “Muse” and other participants in the scheme.
- Overall, NABU said it had exposed five individuals within proceedings under Article 255 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (creation and leadership of a criminal organisation, as well as participation in it) and Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (legalisation (laundering) of property).
- The Prosecutor General’s Office issued a statement on the need for a separate legal assessment of the night-time searches that NABU detectives carried out in the offices of the Prosecutor General, his First Deputy, and other employees of the Prosecutor General’s Office.