The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Ukraine’s Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) are exposing a criminal organization involving lawmakers and senior officials of the Presidential Office, the anti-corruption agencies said on Wednesday morning, posting a teaser video for a special operation called "Forrest Gump."
"NABU and SAPO are conducting a special operation to expose a criminal organization operating under the leadership of a sitting and a former Ukrainian lawmaker, involving senior officials of the Ukrainian Presidential Office and other individuals," NABU and SAPO said in a joint statement on their Telegram channels.
The anti-corruption agencies promised to release details later.
NABU and SAPO later posted a teaser for a video about the special operation called "Forrest Gump." The teaser, which runs under a minute and consists of a fragment of what are apparently intercepted conversations involving suspects, gives little indication of what the operation is actually about.
MP Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote on his Telegram channel: "Searches are currently underway at Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Iryna Mudra’s."
Voice faction lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said searches were also taking place at the premises of a sitting lawmaker who had been elected on the list of the now-defunct Opposition Platform - For Life party.
"It’s not about members of the [Servant of the People] coalition. They’re talking about a member of the formal coalition. A sitting lawmaker from the former Opposition Platform - For Life. A very well-known developer. But the one involving the [Presidential Office] deputy is very unexpected," Zhelezniak wrote, without disclosing the names of either the lawmaker or the Presidential Office official.
Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mykhailo Tkach, citing his own sources, reported that NABU and SAPO are conducting investigative actions at the premises of Mudra and non-affiliated lawmaker Vadym Stolar.
Zhelezniak confirmed this information, reposting Tkach’s report with a "+," and added that searches were reportedly also taking place at the premises of former lawmaker Maksym Mykytas.
Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, citing its own sources, also confirmed this and said officials of Ukraine’s Justice Ministry and representatives of Sense Bank reportedly feature in the case.
Honcharenko later wrote on his Telegram channel: "The NABU searches are linked to Sense Bank and the posting of bail for former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko."
Interfax-Ukraine currently has no confirmation or denial of this information.
