On May 11, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) issued a notice of suspicion against Andrii Yermak, the former head of the Presidential Office. Under Ukrainian procedure, that notice is the formal step equivalent to bringing charges. Yermak is accused of money laundering as part of an organized group, an offense that carries an eight- to 12-year prison term. Authorities say the alleged scheme laundered about 460 million hryvnia (roughly €9 million / $10.5 million) in connection with a luxury construction project near Kyiv; six other people have also been charged.
Prosecutors say the case stretches back to 2018 and centers on BLOOM Development, a company that became active in 2019 and bought more than four hectares of land outside Kyiv. Construction began in 2021 on a high-end residential complex called “Dynasty.” Investigators allege the site was used to funnel illicit funds into the legal economy through fictitious documents, cash transactions and shell companies. Some of the money is alleged to have originated in corrupt schemes involving state-owned enterprises, including Energoatom.
Media reporting and investigative material suggest the group was led by a man using the alias “Karlson,” widely identified as businessman Timur Mindich. Mindich is a close associate of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a co-owner of the TV production company Kvartal 95, which Zelenskyy co-founded. Yermak is accused of belonging to the same group. NABU searched Yermak’s office and home in November 2025 in connection with this investigation; he resigned as presidential chief of staff in 2025 and has denied wrongdoing.
After prosecutors filed the suspicion notice, they requested two months’ pretrial detention for Yermak. A court subsequently ordered his detention on money-laundering charges and set bail at $3.2 million. Yermak has described the accusations as “unfounded,” denied owning a property in the Dynasty complex, and said he will remain in Ukraine and continue to practice law. In a public statement he also complained of intense public pressure on law enforcement to open the probe.
NABU leadership has been careful to distance the inquiry from the president. NABU head Semen Kryvonos said on May 12 that President Zelenskyy is not — and was not — a subject of the preliminary investigations by NABU and SAP. Still, analysts warn that the affair could tarnish Zelenskyy’s reputation given his personal and business ties to figures named in media coverage.
Political scientists have noted two main risks: first, continued media attention and political opponents will keep the story alive and affect public perception of the president; second, any compromising material might be used in future campaigns once Zelenskyy is no longer protected by presidential immunity. Zelenskyy enjoys immunity while in office, so experts say a formal legal investigation of the president would only be possible after his term ends.
Zelenskyy himself has not publicly commented. His communications advisor, Dmytro Lytvyn, told reporters procedural actions are still ongoing and it is too early to draw conclusions. The case remains under active investigation by NABU and SAP, and further developments are likely to shape both legal outcomes and political fallout.