Anti-corruption agencies: MPs and presidential officials laundered US$3m to post bail for ex-energy minister

In the course of an investigation known as Operation Forrest Gump, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have uncovered a scheme in which the participants allegedly laundered UAH 150 million (approx. US$3.3 million) through a state-owned bank in order to post bail for former energy minister Herman Halushchenko. They were allegedly acting on the instructions of a former and a current MP, and officials from Zelenskyy's Office are also said to have been involved.

Source: NABU YouTube channel

Quote from NABU detective Mykhailo Romaniuk: "As part of a special operation to eliminate high-level corruption, NABU and SAPO have exposed a group of individuals who organised and facilitated the laundering of criminally obtained funds.

The funds in question are UAH 150 million in cash which, according to the investigation, was laundered through a series of accounts belonging to shell companies in order to pay bail for a member of the criminal organisation in the Midas case."

Details: According to NABU, the group included a deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, a former MP, and the chairs of the board and supervisory board of a state-owned bank.

Ekonomichna Pravda has learned that the individuals in question are Iryna Mudra, Deputy Head of the President's Office; Maksym Mykytas, a former MP; Vadym Stolar, an MP elected to parliament from the now-banned Opposition Platform – For Life party; Mykola Hladyshenko, Chair of the Supervisory Board of Sense Bank; and Oleh Stupak, Chair of the Management Board of Sense Bank.

The participants in the scheme have been served with a notice of suspicion under Article 209.3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (laundering of proceeds of crime).

To implement the scheme, the organisers used Sense Bank and accounts held by controlled companies. The group gained control of the accounts at the bank in early June and involved senior management in the scheme.

Investigators also recorded a conversation between the scheme's organisers in which they discussed posting UAH 150 million in bail for someone involved in the Midas anti-corruption case, an investigation into large-scale embezzlement in the energy sector.

The bail discussed in the recordings may have been intended for former energy minister Herman Halushchenko, as the name "Herman" crops up in the conversation.

Background:

• Bail of UAH 150 million was posted for Herman Halushchenko, a suspect in the Midas case, at the end of June.
• Sources told Ukrainska Pravda that the funds had been deposited by four companies: Tetras Optima LLC – 54 million, Hiran Konstrakt LLC – 87 million, Skait Riteil LLC – five million, and Pelet Servis LLC – four million.
• In November 2025, it was reported that NABU was conducting searches at the premises of businessman Tymur Mindich, a close friend of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the then justice minister Halushchenko. Sources told Ukrainska Pravda at the time that Mindich had fled abroad just hours before the searches.
• On the same day, NABU announced it had uncovered a large-scale corruption scheme involving embezzlement in the energy sector and published audio recordings of conversations between suspects in the case.
• Halushchenko, who along with Mindich is a suspect in the Midas case, was taken into custody in February.

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