Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) on August 20 published fresh audio recordings that allegedly implicate senior figures close to President Volodymyr Zelensky in a large-scale corporate raiding scheme involving the illegal seizure of real estate and business assets.
According to NABU, the scheme was run by a criminal group that included a presidential deputy chief of staff, a sitting member of parliament and a former lawmaker.
Law-enforcement sources identified the individuals as Iryna Mudra (Zelensky’s former deputy chief of staff), MP Vadym Stolar and former MP Maksym Mykytas.
Investigators say the group used unauthorised interference with Ministry of Justice databases to seize control of enterprises.
In autumn 2025 the suspects allegedly took over assets worth more than 248 million hryvnias (approximately €5.5 million).
In May 2026 they attempted a further takeover of Kyiv real estate valued at over 207 million hryvnias.
The new tapes form part of Operation “Forrest Gump”, which began with raids on August 19.
Those searches targeted Mudra’s premises and others linked to the alleged group.
The same day Zelensky dismissed Mudra from her post.
She has been charged with money laundering in connection with an earlier scheme to raise 150 million hryvnias in bail money for a suspect in the major Energoatom corruption case.
The recordings released on August 20 show discussions between the suspects about the property seizures.
NABU has released only selected excerpts so far.
Mykytas was charged in two embezzlement cases in 2019 and 2023 and in a bribery case in 2022.
The latest revelations add to a series of high-level corruption investigations that have repeatedly reached into Zelensky’s inner circle, raising fresh questions about wartime governance and the effectiveness of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions.
