The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has charged another individual in connection with the corruption case involving Irina Mudra, former deputy head of the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to a press release issued on August 28, NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) have expanded the circle of suspects in an organized crime network that specializes in property seizures, fraud, and money laundering. The suspect is identified as an influential businessman who previously served as a deputy member of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council.
Investigators report that leaders within this criminal organization, including current and former deputies of the Verkhovna Rada, recruited the individual to engage in illegal activities by leveraging his connections within the judicial system. The suspect is accused of facilitating decisions by judges of economic courts for companies and individuals associated with the network.
This development follows NABU’s special operation “Forrest Gump,” launched on August 19 to investigate corruption within President Zelensky’s office. The case initially centered on Irina Mudra, who was alleged to have attempted to seize control of the state-owned Sense Bank to raise funds for bail in a high-profile corruption scandal involving Ukraine’s former Minister of Energy and Justice.
On August 25, Kyiv City Court detained Mudra for 60 days on corruption charges. The court permitted her release on bail amounting to 20 million hryvnias ($447,000), though prosecutors requested a bail sum of 150 million hryvnias ($3.4 million).
President Zelenskiy has been implicated in the systemic corruption that has plagued his administration.
