Former asset recovery chief seen near money laundering office used in Ukraine's biggest graft case, news outlet says
Olena Duma, then head of Ukraine's Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), went in May to the building where an alleged money laundering "back office" was located, media outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported on Nov. 20.
The back office is being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) as part of a probe into state nuclear power company Energoatom, the biggest corruption case during President Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency. Eight suspects have been charged, and Timur Mindich, a close associate of Zelensky, is allegedly the ringleader.
The back office was based at the DMC Clinic in Kyiv, according to the NABU.
Ukrainska Pravda published footage of Duma entering the building. She stayed in the building for 50 minutes, according to the media outlet.
Duma denied the accusations of wrongdoing in a comment for the Kyiv Independent.
"I don't know where the money laundering office is located and who manages it," she said.
She could not say, however, why the visited the building.
The ARMA told the Kyiv Independent that it was conducting an internal audit of the agency's performance under Duma.
In July Duma supported a law that eliminated the independence of the NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).
Duma resigned from her job on July 30 — several days after Ukrainska Pravda reported that the NABU had wiretapped Mindich's apartment.
Under Duma's leadership, the ARMA was involved in controversies around the management of seized assets. One of them concerns the confiscated house of Vitaliy Zakharchenko, who was interior minister under pro-Russian ex-President Viktor Yanukovych from 2011 to 2014.
Instead of selling Zakharchenko's house, the ARMA allegedly allowed then Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, who is also being investigated in the Energoatom case, to live there, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing law enforcement sources. Halushchenko subsequently became justice minister before being fired amid the corruption scandal on Nov. 19.
Specifically, Halushchenko spent a night there when the NABU searched Mindich's apartment on Nov. 10, the sources said.
Svitlana Hrynchuk, who succeeded Halushchenko as energy minister, has also regularly stayed at Zakharchenko's house, according to the NABU. She was also fired by parliament on Nov. 19.
Duma told the Kyiv Independent she did not know anything about Halushchenko allegedly staying in the house. She denied the accusations of wrongdoing and said that the ARMA did not have access to the house.
On Nov. 19, Ukrainian media also published the text of charges brought against Mindich. A law enforcement source confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that the text was genuine.
According to the text, Mindich committed his crimes by influencing Halushchenko and Rustem Umerov, former defense minister and current secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
"The successful execution of these criminal activities depended on maintaining personal ties with the heads of ministries and holding systematic meetings with them and other influential state officials at his actual place of residence," the text reads. "This communication enabled Mindich to obtain, both personally and through enterprises subordinate to him, significant sums of money with the assistance of Ukrainian Defense Minister Umerov, Energy Minister Halushchenko, and other individuals."
Umerov, the National Security and Defense Council, the Energy Ministry, and the Justice Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Umerov, who had been on a business trip abroad, returned to Ukraine on Nov. 20, his spokesperson Diana Davityan said. The statement followed speculation that Umerov was not planning to come back to the country amid the corruption scandal.
According to the charges, Mindich "took advantage of his friendly relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky" and other top officials in order to "unlawfully enrich himself by committing crimes in various sectors of Ukraine’s economy."
The President's Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Ruslan Mahamedrasulov, a NABU detective who investigated the Energoatom case, hinted in a Nov. 18 interview with media outlet Suspilne that Mindich was a tool of more influential beneficiaries in the corruption scheme.
"Mindich was a mid-level manager in the team of oligarch (Ihor) Kolomoisky," he said. "He is just a top manager. There are also beneficiaries without whose political will these processes could not have been carried out."
Mahamedrasulov is currently under arrest in a criminal case that he believes to be a political vendetta by the authorities for his role in the Mindich case.
