Ukrainian anti-corruption official investigated over possible leak in Mindich case, top prosecutor says
Ukraine's Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) is investigating allegations that its deputy head, Andriy Synyuk, has leaked information in a large-scale corruption case into state nuclear power company Energoatom, Ukraine's chief anti-corruption prosecutor Oleksandr Klymenko said late on Nov. 13.
The statement follows reports that President Volodymyr Zelensky's former business partner Timur Mindich had been tipped off about possible searches and left the country beforehand. Mindich is the alleged ringleader of a large-scale corruption scheme at Energoatom, according to the SAPO and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU).
The leaks occurred in the two weeks leading up to the Nov. 10 searches at premises linked to Mindich, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent.
Klymenko told media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that an internal probe was under way, and a criminal case into the allegations was possible.
He made the comment when answering a question about an investigation about his deputy Synyuk released by Ukrainska Pravda on Nov. 10.
The media oulet published video footage of Synyuk meeting with Oleksiy Meniv, a lawyer who visited Mindich's apartment building in the same period.
According to the news outlet's sources, Synyuk had access to the Mindich case.
Synyuk has denied leaking any information in the Mindich case and said he was friends with Meniv. Synyuk also said that Meniv's former wife and children live in the same house as Mindich.
Synyuk was the runner-up in the contest for the job of chief anti-corruption prosecutor in 2021. He eventually lost the race to Klymenko.
Anti-corruption activists questioned his independence at that time since he was a subordinate of then Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova. They argued that the President's Office was pushing for Synyuk to be appointed as the chief anti-corruption prosecutor.
Klymenko nominated him as his deputy in 2022, and Synyuk was appointed as deputy head of the SAPO by then Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, a Zelensky loyalist.
