No charges against Yermak after searches — Interfax-Ukraine
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, has not been charged following searches by anti-corruption agencies, sources in law enforcement told news agency Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
The report came after news outlet ZN.UA cited sources claiming the National Anti-Corruption Bureau was preparing charges against Yermak, potentially linked to "his interest in one of the houses in the 'Dynasty' cooperative."
The publication said the connection could be documented in recordings from the "Mindich case" back-office taps.
Context
In summer, investigative journalists at Bihus.Info reported on the construction of four mansions in Kozyn near Kyiv. News agency Ukrainska Pravda said the development, dubbed "Dynasty," was linked to then-Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov during the full-scale invasion.
Chernyshov now figures in a corruption case involving kickbacks at the state-owned NPP operator Energoatom. Media speculate the cases may be connected.
Investigators say Chernyshov used a "laundry" — the so-called back office — through which Mindich case figures laundered proceeds.
One episode from the taps captures figures discussing freezing certain works, funds for builders, pools, bricklaying and insulation. The need to halt appears tied to a specific person they curse in the conversation. NABU dates the talk to July 1 — when a scandal erupted over Chernyshov's charges in an abuse-of-power case.
A SAPO prosecutor told the court the Mindich case figures then discussed dipping into the "fund" to cover Chernyshov's bail.
Ukrainska Pravda concludes the construction freeze discussed in the Mindich tapes concerns Chernyshov — and thus the "Dynasty" compound. Law enforcement has not officially commented.
MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said Yermak appears in the taps as "Ali-Baba" and may be linked to one of the "Dynasty" houses — a claim unconfirmed by authorities, and the nickname does not appear in published recordings.
- Share: