The NABU and the SAP have announced that they have uncovered a criminal organisation which, according to the investigation, was headed by one of the heads of a departmental unit within the Office of the Prosecutor General. Those involved in the scheme allegedly received bribes from fraudulent call centres and laundered the illegally obtained funds.
According to law enforcement officials, the official set up the group in mid-2025 and recruited both current employees of the Prosecutor General’s Office and people from his own circle.
A key role in the criminal organisation was played by an official from the Office of the Prosecutor General, known by the alias ‘Chancellor’, who operated under the protection of ‘The Boss’.
A total of five members of the group were exposed in connection with the case. These include ‘Muse’ – a close associate of the ‘Chancellor’, ‘Comrade’ – the Chancellor’s driver, and ‘Flash’ – the Chancellor’s assistant – as well as other individuals.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko stated on Sunday that he had “no connection whatsoever with covering up illegal schemes”.
“I did not allow any scheming to facilitate such activities, nor did I use the powers of the Prosecutor General for this purpose,” Kravchenko noted.
According to him, an employee of the Prosecutor General’s Office implicated in the investigation has been suspended from his duties.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office have released recordings of conversations made as part of an operation codenamed ‘Carthage’.
According to the investigation, those implicated organised a scheme to systematically extract unlawful benefits in exchange for not interfering with the activities of so-called call centres. These organisations, the NAB and the SAP claim, were involved in fraud targeting Ukrainian citizens and foreign nationals.
Investigators believe that the group’s members laundered the proceeds through various financial schemes. In particular, according to law enforcement officials, more than 20 million UAH was spent on the purchase of property, jewellery and other valuable assets.
Photo credit: NABU
A further 12 million UAH comprises assets which, according to the investigation, the organisation’s leader transferred to third parties in order to conceal the true owners. These include, in particular, property in one of the popular sports complexes near the Carpathians.
In addition, law enforcement agencies allege that the participants in the scheme deposited over 10 million hryvnias into the accounts of their relatives and close associates, passing these funds off as income from business activities.
The investigation has identified five probable members of the organisation. They are charged with establishing and participating in a criminal organisation, as well as laundering proceeds of crime.
The NABE and the SAP have noted that the investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement agencies are also investigating whether other individuals were involved in the scheme.
Reaction from the Office of the Prosecutor General
The Office of the Prosecutor General stated that all the circumstances must be established by the investigation.
“The Office of the Prosecutor General will provide the anti-corruption authorities with full cooperation and all necessary information within the framework of the law. This case must be subject to an objective legal assessment in accordance with the procedure established by law,” the Prosecutor General’s Office wrote.
They also noted that efforts to combat fraudulent call centres are continuing.
They reported that over the past year, they had carried out more than 1,050 searches, shut down around 340 fraudulent call centres and more than 5,000 operator workstations.
Ukrainian prosecutors have participated in 37 international joint investigation teams coordinated by Eurojust and supported by Europol. There are currently 147 criminal cases under investigation.
The Office of the Prosecutor General stated that an employee implicated in the NABU case concerning fraudulent call centres may be dismissed, and that the office is prepared to cooperate with the investigation.
At the same time, the Office of the Prosecutor General questioned the legitimacy of the night-time searches of the offices of the prosecution service’s senior management and stated that detectives had gained access to materials from other criminal proceedings, which requires a separate legal assessment.
The Prosecutor General’s Office also emphasised that the court ruling contains no direct evidence of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko’s involvement in the activities of fraudulent call centres, of him receiving funds from them, or of him obstructing their investigation.