Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies have named Andriy Yermak, Volodymyr Zelensky’s former chief of staff, as a suspect in a major investigation into alleged money-laundering linked to a luxury property development near Kyiv.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) said in a joint statement on May 12, 2026 that investigators had uncovered an organised group suspected of laundering around €9 million through a high-end residential project.
“One of its members — the former head of the Office of the President of Ukraine — has been notified of suspicion,” the agencies said. While neither NABU nor SAPO officially identified the individual, in line with Ukrainian legal practice, local media widely named Yermak as the figure in question.
Six other people were also notified as suspects on Tuesday, with the investigation said to be ongoing.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, Yermak declined to comment in detail and said he would wait until the inquiry had concluded. Dmytro Lytvyn, an adviser to the President, said it was “too early to assess the ongoing procedural actions”.
The move stops short of formal charges. Yermak, a close ally of Zelensky and previously Ukraine’s lead negotiator in talks with the United States, resigned from his post in November 2025 amid mounting pressure tied to the wider anti-corruption inquiry.
According to NABU and SAPO, the suspected scheme operated between 2021 and 2025 and relied on a network of shell companies, cash transactions and fictitious financial documents to move funds. The money was allegedly channelled into a residential project planned to include four private mansions of roughly 1,000 square metres each, alongside a shared wellness complex with a spa and swimming pool.
Each property was estimated to be worth millions of dollars, the investigating bodies claimed.
The inquiry forms part of a broader probe into high-level graft in Ukraine, first made public in November 2025, when one of Zelensky’s former business partners was accused of running a kickback scheme at the state atomic energy agency worth around $100 million (€92 million). A former deputy prime minister and other figures close to the President have also been charged in connection with the wider investigation.
The President himself has not been implicated. Even so, the case is regarded as one of the most serious political challenges faced by his administration since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with several senior figures close to him drawn into the probe.
Ukraine’s Government has come under repeated pressure from European Union partners and international donors to show progress on tackling corruption, an area that remains central to Kyiv’s bid for EU membership.
