Corruption probe: Mindich accused of forming criminal organisation, laundering money and swaying then-defence minister
Detectives from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) suspect Tymur Mindich, a businessman and co-owner of Kvartal 95, of establishing a criminal organisation, laundering funds obtained through criminal means and illegally influencing former defence minister Rustem Umierov. Kvartal 95 is the Ukrainian production company Volodymyr Zelenskyy founded before he became president.
Source: text of the notice of suspicion obtained by Ukrainska Pravda
Details: The case in which Mindich was served with a notice of suspicion was opened on 21 August 2025. He is accused of committing crimes under the following charges:
- creation and leadership of a criminal organisation (Article 255.1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- money-laundering committed by a criminal organisation on a particularly large scale (Articles 27.3, 28.4, 209.3);
- influence on members of the Cabinet of Ministers with the aim of obtaining unlawful decisions (Article 344.1).
Details of the offence under Article 255.1: Investigators have found that throughout 2025, Mindich engaged in criminal activity in the energy sector by influencing then-energy minister Herman Halushchenko, and in the defence sector through his influence on Umierov.
Investigators believe the successful implementation of the criminal activity depended on Mindich's maintaining personal ties with ministers and other influential officials and on his regular meetings with them at his apartment.
Quote from the notice of suspicion: "The arrangements described provided Mindich T.M. with the opportunity to receive, both personally and through the companies under his control, significant sums of money with the assistance of R.E. Umierov, Minister of Defence of Ukraine, H.V. Halushchenko, Minister of Energy of Ukraine, and other individuals."
Details: Investigators found that with Halushchenko's assistance, Mindich controlled financial flows in Ukraine's energy sector, while Halushchenko had a personal benefit – Mindich's intercession before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Mindich established and led a criminal organisation to oversee the accumulation, distribution and laundering of funds obtained by criminal means in Ukraine's energy sector. He enlisted businessman Oleksandr Tsukerman as a co-organiser.
Tsukerman brought into the organisation Lesia Ustymenko, Liudmyla Zorina, Ihor Fursenko and other unidentified individuals.
With Halushchenko's assistance, Ihor Myroniuk, then-advisor to the energy minister, and Dmytro Basov, Executive Director for Physical Protection and Security at Ukraine's state-owned nuclear energy company Energoatom, joined the organisation.
The investigation found that from 15 January 2025, Mindich, Tsukerman, Ustymenko, Fursenko, Zorina, Myroniuk and Basov, along with other unidentified members, received unlawful benefits by using their official positions to benefit Energoatom's counterparties and subsequently laundered the proceeds.
According to the notice of suspicion, by 14 May at the latest, Basov, with Myroniuk's assistance, received US$53,000 from an unidentified individual acting on behalf of Elast Atom LLC. The payment was made to secure Energoatom's transfer of funds to the company under existing contracts.
Between 10 February and 9 May, Ustymenko and Fursenko, under Tsukerman's direction and Mindich's control, laundered US$1,227,300 and €96,700. They concealed the fact that the funds were criminally obtained, as well as their origin and location, before transferring them to Oleksii Chernyshov, then-deputy prime minister and minister for national unity.
In addition, between 12 February and 21 May, Ustymenko, Zorina and Fursenko, acting under Tsukerman's direction and Mindich's oversight, laundered US$5,563,523 and €450,000 they had received from Myroniuk.
The notice of suspicion also states that one of the senior officials of the prosecution service, who was a member of this criminal organisation, passed information from the pre-trial investigation between 16 and 26 October – that is, he informed other members about the risks of being exposed by NABU detectives and prosecutors from the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).
Details regarding the offence under Article 27.3, Article 28.4 and Article 209.3 of the Criminal Code: Investigators established that the aim of the criminal organisation was to launder proceeds obtained through criminal means across various sectors of Ukraine's economy and to profit from this activity.
Members of the organisation received between 0.2% and 8% of the laundered sums for carrying out money-laundering operations.
The investigators have found that part of the funds was laundered in the interests of former deputy prime minister Oleksii Chernyshov. In total, the organisation led by Mindich and Tsukerman laundered and transferred UAH 55,144,841.03 (about US$1.3 million) to Chernyshov.
Money-laundering involving proceeds of crime was also carried out with the participation of Myroniuk, then adviser to the energy minister. The laundering process was conducted in three ways: transporting cash from the points of its collection to the organisation's office; mixing and concealing its criminal origin to prevent it from being traced to funds already controlled by the organisation; and, after mixing and concealment, transferring the money to the accounts of companies, including non-resident entities, or handing it over to individuals and legal entities. Transfers were made through currency-exchange operations, as well as through the purchase and subsequent movement of crypto-assets. The total amount laundered with Myroniuk's involvement was UAH 256,097,084.42 (about US$6 million).
Quote from the notice of suspicion: "The total amount of funds laundered by the criminal organisation headed by T. Mindich and O. Tsukerman is UAH 311,241,925.45 (about US$7,393,912)."
Details regarding the offence under Article 344.1 of the Criminal Code: The suspicion states that on 8 July 2025, Mindich attempted to obtain an unlawful decision from Umierov to ensure that the State Operator For Non-Lethal Acquisition accepted body armour that had failed quality checks, which would have enabled him to receive financial gain.
Quote from the notice of suspicion: "The following expressions by Mindich T. indicate the facts of persuasion and conviction: 'I'm asking you, don't walk away – these body armour vests are big money'; 'Just let them sign the acceptance. That's it. It's one phone call for you, just say: I don't want to hear anything more from Tymur about the body armour, and I meet him twice a week'; 'It's just one command from you and that's it'; 'Resolve this issue, I'm asking you, or it will be a complete disaster'; 'They've invested 7 or 6,300 million there, half of it is my money.' Under the same circumstances, R. Umierov told his interlocutor: "I've heard you. I'll call them again and say: look, that's exactly what I need you to do."
Details: The investigators found that as of 20 August, the goods had not been delivered. On 29 August, the State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition notified Milikon UA that the contract had been terminated.
NABU Director Semen Kryvonos told Ukrainska Pravda that the notice of suspicion was served to Mindich on 10 November – sent to his contact numbers, his residential addresses and, in accordance with the law, delivered to representatives of the housing-maintenance organisation at his place of residence.
Kryvonos said that once it has been served, the notice of suspicion is no longer a restricted-access document.
Quote from Kryvonos: "Given that we initiated the seizure of the suspect's property and this matter was considered in court, the notice of suspicion is also available to his defence lawyers. NABU and SAPO did not make the decision to disseminate the text of the suspicion and are not its source. The content of the suspicion and details of the case may be announced at an open court hearing on the selection of a pre-trial measure for the suspect."
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