Key facts
- Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko approved charges against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos on September 14.
- Kravchenko resigned on September 7, citing political confrontation.
- Kravchenko is suspected of falsifying official documents to obtain illicit benefits.
- NABU and SAPO uncovered a criminal scheme involving officials in the Prosecutor General's Office protecting fraudulent call centers.
- The scheme allegedly laundered millions of hryvnias through property purchases and bank accounts.
- Serhii Kropyva, deputy director of international cooperation in the Prosecutor General's Office, was detained and suspected of money laundering.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko has been charged with falsifying official documents to obtain illicit benefits, days after he resigned from his post. Kravchenko, who submitted his resignation on September 7, approved the charges against Semen Kryvonos, director of Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), on September 14.
Kravchenko stated that he suspects Kryvonos of falsifying documents to gain especially large illicit benefits. This development follows an investigation by NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) that uncovered a criminal scheme allegedly involving officials within the Prosecutor General's Office. The scheme reportedly provided protection for fraudulent call centers involved in money laundering.
The investigation, which began on September 4, revealed that members of the group allegedly took bribes from these call centers to allow them to operate without interference. The laundered money is suspected to have been channeled through property purchases, assets registered under associates' names, and bank accounts. Investigators have identified five suspected members of the group, including Serhii Kropyva, deputy director of the international cooperation department of the Prosecutor General's Office, who has been detained and faces charges of money laundering exceeding 1.7 million euros.
Kravchenko, previously seen as a loyalist to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, resigned after NABU detectives exposed the alleged protection racket. He denied any wrongdoing and stated his resignation was a political decision to prevent his position from being used for political confrontation. The Prosecutor General's Office was searched during the investigation, and recordings published by NABU referred to a person matching Kravchenko's description as "the boss."