Former presidential chief-of-staff Andriy Yermak charged: details
Andriy Yermak, the former head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, has been charged with money laundering tied to an elite residential compound outside Kyiv, Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), reported.
NABU and SAPO said they uncovered an organized criminal group involved in laundering 460 million hryvnias ($10.5 million) through an upscale housing project in Kyiv Oblast. Yermak was identified as a participant in the scheme and formally charged under Part 3, Article 209 of Ukraine's Criminal Code, covering the legalization (laundering) of criminally obtained assets. Urgent investigative actions are underway.
What Yermak and the Presidential Office said
Speaking to journalists from Radio Liberty’s Schemes project after being charged, Yermak declined to comment. "When the investigative actions are over, I will provide a comment," he said.
The Presidential Office issued its first statement shortly after. "As we can see, procedural actions are still ongoing, so it is too early to make assessments," presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told reporters.
What is known about the case
The scheme traces back to 2018, when a figure referred to in case documents by the alias "Che Guevara" — identified by SAPO prosecutors as Oleksiy Chernyshov — joined the founding group of BLOOM Development LLC. In the summer of 2019, the company purchased more than 4 hectares of land from the Kozyn village council in Kyiv Oblast, which became the foundation for the future construction project.
In November 2019, Che Guevara was appointed head of the Kyiv Oblast State Administration. Because of his civil servant status, he transferred his share in the company's charter capital to his wife. In March 2020, he was appointed Minister of Community and Territorial Development. By May 2020, NABU says, "concepts for the construction of private residences at Dynastiya were taking shape" on land owned — and partly leased — by BLOOM Development, whose co-founder is his wife. Chernyshov assembled a project team from people under his control to carry out the development.
In June 2020, Chernyshov brought Tymur Mindich — known by the alias "Karlson" — into the project. Around the same time, Yermak, referred to in the case as "R2," was also brought in.
The development, a private compound called "Dynastiya," is located in the Kozyn village council area of Kyiv Oblast. NABU said the participants in the project themselves estimated the value of the Kozyn plots at between $4,000 and $20,000 per hundredth of a hectare. The residences were to be built on plots totaling more than 8 hectares, with a combined value potentially exceeding $6 million. The plan called for four private residences — designated R1, R2, R3, and R4 — each approximately 1,000 square meters in size and valued at roughly $2 million apiece, as well as a shared estate called R0, featuring a spa, swimming pool, and gym.
Active construction began in June 2021. NABU said that at the outset, participants buried a commemorative capsule and had the site blessed by a priest — whose wife later became, in 2022, the nominal owner of an apartment provided as an illegal benefit to Chernyshov in his capacity as minister.
How the scheme was financed
According to NABU, construction was funded through two channels. The first — described as the "conditionally clean, cashless route" — involved a housing cooperative called "Soniachnyi Bereh" (Sunny Shore), controlled by Chernyshov's associates, which formally served as the project's client. Funds transferred to its accounts were used in part to finance construction. This legitimate-appearing channel accounted for roughly 10% of total construction funding.
The bulk of the financing came from criminally obtained funds. Investigators say cash for the project was delivered to workers through Chernyshov's personal assistant at a separate Kyiv office, while another portion was received by a member of Mindich's inner circle.
NABU also noted that construction did not stop even after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and fighting reached Kyiv Oblast. According to investigators, Chernyshov demanded that work continue as early as March 2022.
Attempts to conceal the scheme
In July 2025, after Chernyshov was charged, Mindich decided to temporarily halt and mothball construction to avoid exposure, NABU said.
Following media coverage of the "Dynastiya" compound, the owners attempted to shield the land plots and unfinished structures from potential seizure — but the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACCU) granted NABU and SAPO's request and placed the land and five unfinished structures in Kozyn under arrest. Investigators and prosecutors also conducted an on-site inspection of the compound.
In November 2025, NABU and SAPO carried out searches at the residence of one of the "Dynastiya" project participants. That same month, law enforcement searched Yermak's home, though no reason was given publicly, and no charges were pressed at the time. That evening, Yermak submitted his resignation.
Immediately after leaving office, Yermak announced he was heading to the front. However, the Ministry of Defense said he had not contacted any territorial recruitment centers about military service.
Ukraine's Land Forces later confirmed he was not serving with them. Yermak has since appeared in photographs alongside front-line soldiers and recently traveled to the combat zone, reportedly to advise soldiers.