NABU exposes donor funds laundering scheme involving former secretary of state of Ukraine’s foreign ministry

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have exposed an organized criminal group led by a former secretary of state of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that embezzled funds from foreign donors.

This was reported on the NABU website.

According to the agency, the case involves the laundering of funds totaling more than 37 million hryvnias — approximately €1.1 million at the time the crimes were committed, or approximately €729,000 at the current exchange rate. The secretary of state of the foreign ministry in Ukraine performs the functions of the ministry’s chief of staff.

Investigators consider the former secretary of state, who held the post from 2020 to 2024, to be the organizer of the scheme. His name has not been officially disclosed; however, the outlets RBC-Ukraine and Yevropeyska Pravda indicate that during that period, under Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the position was held by Oleksandr Bankov.

“According to the investigation, the secretary of state of the foreign ministry persuaded international donors and subordinate staff at foreign diplomatic missions to direct financial assistance to a bank account belonging to a public organization under his control. According to expert findings, the funds received by this organization legally had the status of earmarked budget funds from the special fund of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” NABU’s statement reads.

The funds were subsequently transferred to accounts of controlled individual entrepreneurs and legal entities, who cashed them out through currency conversion centers. The suspects used the laundered money for personal purposes.

Among the suspects in the case are also a former chief of staff to the secretary of state of the foreign ministry, a current diplomatic official, and an adviser to the former foreign minister. The case is being investigated under Part 4 of Article 190, Part 5 of Article 191, and Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Last November, a corruption scheme at Energoatom was exposed in Ukraine, involving Timur Mindich, a co-owner of Kvartal 95, and a number of former senior officials. According to investigators, participants in the scheme demanded kickbacks of 10–15% of contract values from the company’s counterparties. Against the backdrop of this scandal, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, was dismissed and subsequently notified of suspicion in a case involving the laundering of more than approximately €8.8 million during the construction of the elite cottage development “Dynastiya” in Kyiv Oblast. According to investigators, the funds for construction may have come in part from corruption schemes at Energoatom. Yermak was released on bail.