Another major corruption probe hits Zelensky's office, as investigators charge his deputy chief of staff

Editor's note: This story is being updated.

Key takeaways:

• Investigators release tapes implicating top officials in money laundering
• The suspects include former presidential Deputy Chief of Staff Iryna Mudra, lawmaker Vadym Stolar, former lawmaker Maksym Mykytas, and top executives of state-owned Sense Bank
• The suspects are accused of laundering Hr 150 million ($3.4 million) and transferring the funds through Sense Bank to post bail for former Justice and Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko
• Halushchenko has been charged with money laundering and organized crime in a separate case centered around state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom — the largest corruption investigation of Zelensky's tenure

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) is searching the premises of Iryna Mudra, a presidential deputy chief of staff, and Vadym Stolar, a member of parliament, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told the Kyiv Independent on Aug. 19.

Mudra was charged by the NABU, her lawyer Artem Krykun-Trush told the media outlet Suspilne.

The latest investigation comes as the NABU steps up its anti-corruption efforts.

It follows last year’s probe into state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom — the largest corruption investigation of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s tenure. The Mudra case also comes on the heels of corruption charges against Zelensky’s former Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak in May and former Deputy Prime Minister and Ambassador Olha Stefanishyna on Aug. 5.

Zelensky issued a decree to fire Mudra soon after. She had been overseeing the judiciary at the President’s Office.

“I can confirm that the NABU is conducting investigative actions at my home," Stolar wrote on Facebook. "I am fully cooperating with the bureau and am not obstructing the work of law enforcement in any way."

The bureau is also searching premises linked to Maksym Mykytas, a former member of parliament, and state-owned Sense Bank, the source said.

The Sense Bank officials under investigation are allegedly its CEO Oleksiy Stupak and Mykola Hladyshchenko, head of the bank's supervisory board, according to the text of search warrants leaked by lawmakers Yaroslav Zheleznyak and Oleksiy Honcharenko. The law enforcement source confirmed the authenticity of the warrants.

Hladyshchenko was suspended from his post back in May.

Mudra and Sense Bank issued statements in which they promised to cooperate with investigators. The Kyiv Independent has requested comments from Mykytas, Sense Bank, and Mudra and will publish their responses once they are received.

The NABU said on Aug. 19 that it was "conducting a special operation to expose a criminal organization led by a current and a former Ukrainian lawmaker and involving senior officials from the President's Office."

The bureau said later that the suspects are accused of laundering Hr 150 million ($3.4 million) posted as bail for a suspect in the "Midas" operation. The NABU said that these include a deputy head of the President's Office, a member of parliament, a former member of parliament, as well as the CEO and supervisory board head at a state bank — an apparent reference to Sense Bank.

Sense Bank is alleged to have been used as a channel for transferring part of the funds for former Justice and Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko’s bail, according to the warrants.

Halushchenko has been charged with money laundering and organized crime in the Energoatom case, also known as the Midas operation.

Investigators have linked several former and current Sense Bank officials to the organization of these transactions and the possible circumvention of financial monitoring requirements, according to the warrants.

Investigators also allege that Mudra was expected to arrange the raising of funds to post Hr 150 million in bail for Halushchenko.

Unidentified individuals from the President's Office also tasked Mudra with bringing Sense Bank under the control of the President's Office in order to prevent other government bodies from gaining control over it, according to the warrants.

Mudra said in June that someone had summoned her and said that Sense Bank’s CEO and supervisory board head would come to her, according to audio tapes published by the NABU.

She also said that a certain “David” and the head of a parliamentary committee were seeking to provide political cover for Sense Bank. It is unclear if "David" could be a reference to David Arakhamia, head of Zelensky's faction in parliament.

"They will not crack down on Sense Bank, and Sense Bank must pay them," Mudra said in a reference to David and the committee head.

Mudra also said that Timur, “an Israeli refugee” — an apparent reference to Timur Mindich, a suspect in the Energoatom case and a close Zelensky associate — called her and asked her to take over Sense Bank.

“You can’t trust these crooks with the bank,” Timur allegedly said. “There are serious cash flows there. Take over the bank.”

Mindich had fled to Israel before being charged.

Timur allegedly said that Sense Bank officials were ready to bring cash wherever an unnamed top official of the President’s Office says, according to Mudra's alleged statement in the tapes.

Mudra also allegedly told Hladyshchenko, head of Sense Bank's supervisory board, that her "boss" had told her about "60" — an apparent reference to a payment for Halushchenko's bail.  

In the tapes, Mykytas, one of his associates and Mudra also allegedly discussed circumventing a regulatory block on a payment through Sense Bank intended for Halushchenko’s bail. He also mentioned using forged documents and an alleged money laundering office.

Mykytas also said that Sense Bank executives had put him in touch with a top official of the Financial Monitoring Service to discuss the issue.

"She'll be the one who ends up in jail (if something goes wrong)" Mykytas said in a reference to the official. "But we negotiate everything with her."

Sense Bank is also allegedly implicated in the Energoatom corruption case.

Alleged transcripts of audio tapes published in April and May appear to confirm previous Ukrainska Pravda reports that Vasyl Vesely, an aide to Sense Bank's supervisory board, was a protégé of Zelensky's former Chief of Staff Yermak and had a lot of influence over the bank. According to Ukrainska Pravda, Mindich also allegedly influenced Sense Bank.

"On Aug. 19, law enforcement officers carried out investigative actions at the headquarters of Sense Bank in connection with certain individuals," the bank said in a statement. "We are interested in ensuring that all the circumstances surrounding this situation are established fully and objectively. The bank is therefore cooperating with the relevant authorities and providing all necessary information in accordance with the procedures established by law."

According to the tapes released by the NABU on Aug. 19, Mudra also discussed influencing the selection of the bureau's civic oversight board and inserting loyal people there.

She also said that Klymenko — an apparent reference to Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Oleksandr Klymenko — should be replaced with a person loyal to the President’s Office. She said that the authorities should prevent Klymenko's re-appointment for another term.

"If he is reappointed for a second term, for seven more years, we're all screwed," Mudra added.

Mudra said on Aug. 19 that she would address “the fragments of conversations being released today in pieces and out of context" when she sees the case file.

“I have given the investigation my full cooperation and I am ready to answer every question through the procedures the law provides,” Mudra said in a statement published by the law firm Miller, which represents her. “I do not question the right of the investigators to do their job. Accountability applies to everyone, myself included.”

Mykytas, one of the targets of the searches, headed state-owned construction company Ukrbud from 2010 to 2016 and was a lawmaker from the Will of the People faction from 2016 to 2019.

Mykytas was charged in two embezzlement cases in 2019 and 2023 and in a bribery case in 2022.

In 2020, lawyers working for Mykytas accused the police of fabricating evidence in a criminal case to pressure him into withdrawing testimony he had given against Zelensky's Deputy Chief of Staff Oleh Tatarov in a separate investigation. The police denied the accusations.

After he was charged and arrested, Mykytas effectively withdrew his accusations against Tatarov. The deputy chief of staff was charged with bribery in 2020 but the case was effectively dismantled and closed in 2022.

Stolar, who was also searched, represented the pro-Russian Opposition Platform-For Life faction in parliament until it was banned amid Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Now he represents the Restoration of Ukraine group, an offshoot of the Opposition Platform-For Life.

Stolar has been linked to several controversial construction projects in Kyiv, as well as a scheme that allegedly defrauded hundreds of homebuyers during the 2000s, according to investigative journalists. He has denied the accusations of wrongdoing.

Under former President Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian media labeled Stolar the “de facto mayor of Kyiv” due to his influence in the city.

Stolar has also partnered up with Artem Kolyubayev, a former business partner of former President's Office Head Yermak, according to the Bihus.info investigative project.

In December, the NABU also charged five lawmakers from Zelensky's Servant of the People faction with taking cash in exchange for parliamentary votes.

The same month, the bureau also searched the premises of an aide to Arakhamia, head of the Servant of the People faction, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent in April.

The media outlet Ukrainska Pravda also reported in July, citing its sources, that earlier that month the NABU had obtained court orders allowing it to collect biological samples from the aide of Arakhamia in the case involving alleged cash payments paid to lawmakers.