Zelenskyy's former chief of staff Yermak charged with money laundering
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have served Andrii Yermak, former head of the President's Office, with a notice of suspicion in a case concerning the alleged laundering of UAH 460 million (around US$6 million) through a high-end construction project outside Kyiv.
Quote from SAPO: "NABU and SAPO have uncovered an organised group involved in laundering UAH 460 million through an elite construction project near Kyiv.
Urgent investigative actions are ongoing."
Update: NABU said that in 2018, "Che Guevara" [the codename for Oleksii Chernyshov, former deputy prime minister and Naftogaz CEO – ed.] became one of the founders of Bloom Development LLC.
In summer 2019, the company purchased more than four hectares of land from the Kozyn village council in Kyiv Oblast, which later became the basis for the building project.
In November that year, "Che Guevara" was appointed head of Kyiv Oblast State Administration. Due to his status as a civil servant, he transferred his stake in the company to his wife.
In March 2020, "Che Guevara" became the Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, and in May 2020, plans emerged for the construction of four mansions on the site, known as Dynasty, on land that was owned and/or leased by Bloom Development LLC, whose founder is Chernyshov's wife.
To implement the project, "Che Guevara" assembled a Dynasty project team from people under his control.
Quote from NABU: "According to the estimates of the project participants themselves, the value of the land in Kozyn where the Dynasty construction was planned ranged at the time from US$4,000 to US$20,000 per 100 sq m of land.
Meanwhile, the mansions were to be built on plots with a total area of over eight hectares, the value of which could be in excess of US$6 million."
Details: In June 2020, according to NABU, "Che Guevara" got "Karlsson" involved in the Dynasty construction project.
At about the same time, another participant referred to as "R2" was also brought into the project.
The individuals involved in the Dynasty project agreed to build four mansions (each with an area of around 1,000 sq m) on the company's land as personal permanent residences.
To conceal the real owners, the construction costs were attributed to individuals referred to as R4, R3, R2 and R1.
The plans also included the construction of additional houses and auxiliary premises for each mansion. In addition, the participants agreed to build a shared fifth mansion that would include a spa area, swimming pool, gym and other facilities.
The Dynasty participants approved the project budgets. The cost of building a single mansion was around US$2 million.
In June 2021, the active construction phase began. At the start of construction, a commemorative capsule was buried and the site was blessed by a priest. NABU said that in 2022, the wife of the clergyman invited to bless the project became the official owner of one of the apartments that "Che Guevara" acquired as an improper benefit while serving as Minister for Development of Communities and Territories.
Quote from NABU: "The construction was financed through two channels.
The first was a relatively 'clean' and cashless route, the so-called Form 1. For this purpose, persons controlled by 'Che Guevara' set up the Sunny Shore Housing Construction Cooperative, which officially acted as the client for the construction project.
The Dynasty founders deposited funds into its accounts, part of which was later used to finance the construction of the mansions.
The intention was to give the appearance that the funds had a legitimate origin.
The investigation has established that these individuals controlled by 'Che Guevara' received money for services they had supposedly rendered from legal entities that show signs of fictitious activity and from companies in the pharmaceutical sector.
Furthermore, this relatively 'clean' financing accounted for only about 10% of the total funds used for the construction of the mansions."
Details: NABU has also uncovered a second financing route. According to NABU, the majority of the financing for the Dynasty mansions was obtained through criminal means – the so-called "Form 2". Part of the cash used for construction was handed over to the workers who were actually doing the work via "Che Guevara's" personal assistant at another office in Kyiv.
Another portion of the cash was received by a person from "Karlsson's" circle.
It was also established that the construction of the Dynasty mansions did not stop after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, but intensified. "Che Guevara" demanded that the building work should proceed faster and continue in multiple shifts from morning until late evening.
Since the real scale of the construction did not correspond to the officially declared sources of financing, in 2024 the project participants began looking for ways to launder the money.
In particular, they proposed purchasing documents that would falsely confirm the lawful origin of the funds.
The cost of these services amounted to 15.5-16.5% of the total sum.
In July 2025, in a bid to avoid possible consequences after the scheme was exposed and "Che Guevara" was served with a notice of suspicion, "Karlsson", in a conversation with his construction representative, decided to halt the work temporarily and mothball the construction projects until "better times".
NABU and SAPO say that between 2021 and 2025, the future owners of the mansions and other individuals laundered nearly US$9 million through the construction project.
The investigation has established that these funds were obtained through the activities of a criminal organisation headed by "Karlsson", including through the operation of a "laundromat" that accumulated and laundered funds originating from various sources, including corruption schemes at Energoatom.
Overall, the Dynasty project participants laundered over UAH 460 million (around US$6 million) during the construction of the mansions.
After reports about the Dynasty project were published in the media, the owners attempted to remove the land and unfinished buildings from the threat of seizure.
But in the course of the investigation, the High Anti-Corruption Court granted a petition brought by NABU and SAPO and seized the land and five unfinished construction sites in Kozyn.
Detectives and prosecutors also went to inspect the Dynasty site.
The investigation recorded that attempts were made to put pressure on one of the experts to prevent him from carrying out an inspection. NABU and SAPO have launched criminal proceedings.
In November 2025, NABU and SAPO conducted searches at the residence of one of the Dynasty owners.
Andrii Yermak has now been charged with laundering criminally obtained funds under Article 209.3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Background: NABU and SAPO carried out investigative actions in respect of Yermak on the evening of 11 May.
Previously:
- On 28 November 2025, Ukrainska Pravda reported that detectives from NABU and prosecutors from SAPO had conducted searches at Yermak's residence in the government quarter. Yermak confirmed the searches and said he was willing to cooperate with the investigation.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later announced Yermak's resignation. On 2 January, Zelenskyy appointed Defence Intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov as head of the President's Office.
- Yermak later declared that he would go to the front line after resigning amid a corruption scandal and the investigative actions by NABU at his residence.
- Yermak was appointed chair of a committee set up on his initiative within the National Bar Association of Ukraine (NBAU) to focus on the protection of victims of armed aggression against Ukraine, compensation mechanisms, and legal support for European integration and reconstruction.
- Following this, a committee at the National Bar Association launched a project called Lawyer+. The association said Yermak and other lawyers had travelled to the combat zone to provide legal advice to units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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