Operation Midas: Around US$100m flowed through suspects' office

Detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) have established that around US$100 million passed through the office used by the suspects in a large-scale embezzlement scheme in Ukraine's energy sector, NABU Director Semen Kryvonos has said.

Source: Kryvonos, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda

Quote from Kryvonos: "During the documentation process, we established that around US$100 million had passed through the office in one way or another. It may be much more. That's what we established through operational methods."

Details: Kryvonos explained that the next stage of the investigation – after covert investigative actions have been carried out, the suspects have been detained, and the court has made decisions on pre-trial restrictions – will be a financial investigation.

"During the financial investigation and the analysis of the documents seized – and we seized some very interesting documents – we will be able to see and establish where these funds were transferred, how they were converted, perhaps into property or other assets, or whether they remained in bank accounts abroad, in certain jurisdictions," Kryvonos said.

He added that there is "very painstaking investigative work" to be done, and that NABU will cooperate with both Ukrainian state bodies such as the State Financial Monitoring Service and foreign jurisdictions to track the movement of these funds.

"Now we need to trace the movement of funds through state-owned or private banks, the transfer of funds abroad. According to our information, the suspects often used cryptocurrency, and that will make the whole process a lot more complicated. We will need assistance from law enforcement agencies in other countries, and we may have to consider setting up JITs (Joint Investigation Teams), which have proven to be highly effective in corruption cases," Kryvonos explained.

Background:

• On the morning of 10 November, it was revealed that detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) had conducted searches at the homes of Tymur Mindich and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko (who has been suspended as of 12 November). Ukrainska Pravda sources also reported that Mindich left Ukraine hours before the searches.
• On 11 November, journalists identified all the individuals implicated in the large-scale investigation into corruption at Energoatom who have been formally notified of suspicion by NABU. An investigative reporting project by Skhemy found that notices of suspicion have been served on Tymur Mindich (referred to as "Karlsson" on the NABU tapes), former adviser to the energy minister Ihor Myroniuk ("Rocket"), Energoatom's executive director for security Dmytro Basov ("Tenor"), Oleksandr Tsukerman ("Sugarman"), Ihor Fursenko ("Roshyk"), Lesia Ustymenko and Liudmyla Zorina.
• Five of the suspects have been detained. Two – Mindich and Tsukerman – have left Ukraine.
• Basov, Myroniuk, Fursenko, Ustymenko and Zorina have been assigned pre-trial restrictions with the option of bail. It later emerged that the High Anti-Corruption Court has received bail payments for Lesia Ustymenko and Liudmyla Zorina, the two back-office employees involved in laundering funds linked to Energoatom.
• On the morning of 12 November, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko announced that Herman Halushchenko had been suspended as justice minister following the high-profile investigation into corruption at Energoatom.
• On 13 November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted a decision by the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) to impose sanctions against Tymur Mindich and Oleksandr Tsukerman.

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