(updated version)
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have released a new video exposing a corrupt organization led by a sitting and a former lawmaker along with senior officials from the Presidential Office: the "Themis" operation targets the illegal seizure of real estate and company assets through document forgery.
"As part of a special operation to dismantle high-level corruption, NABU and SAPO exposed a criminal organization led by a sitting and a former member of Ukraine’s parliament, which included senior officials of the Presidential Office and other individuals," the video, released on the anti-corruption agencies’ Telegram channels on Thursday, said.
According to the video released by NABU and SAPO, the criminal organization’s main goal was to seize valuable real estate and other company assets by illegally establishing control over business entities owned by other individuals.
According to the anti-corruption agencies, the suspects carried out raider takeovers of companies by forging ownership documents and court rulings.
The video states that the value of company assets illegally seized by the organization’s members in the fall of 2025 exceeded UAH 248 million.
"In May 2026, they attempted to seize properties in Kyiv worth more than UAH 207 million," the anti-corruption agencies said.
To carry out the scheme, the video says, the suspects recruited hackers who, posing as state registrars, accessed the register of legal entities and entered forged documents containing false information about the transfer of ownership from the legitimate owners to front men, who were in fact bodyguards of one of the scheme’s co-organizers.
"Aware that the owners of the seized companies might turn to law enforcement to reverse these illegal actions, the scheme’s organizers arranged for a criminal case to be opened based on a complaint from people under their control, and for the corporate rights of the seized companies to be placed under arrest in order to… make it impossible to carry out any registration actions," the anti-corruption agencies’ video says.
To retain control over the seized companies, NABU and SAPO say, the scheme’s participants "exerted influence on senior officials of the Justice Ministry."
According to the anti-corruption agencies, the aim of seizing one of the companies was to gain control over valuable real estate in downtown Kyiv by initiating bankruptcy proceedings in a commercial court with the help of controlled individuals.
In another case, fictitious debt was created for a company, making it possible to initiate bankruptcy proceedings.
Another episode involves the seizure of real estate in downtown Kyiv through the forgery of a court ruling, which was entered into the property register with the help of hackers.
"Justice Ministry officials, aware of the consequences of carrying out the illegal instructions of the deputy head of the Presidential Office, refused to take part in the crime," the video says. As a result, NABU and SAPO say, the intent was not carried through.
"The investigation established that the criminal organization’s activities were financed by a co-organizer and sitting member of Ukraine’s parliament, in an amount of at least $514,000. Scheme participants used these funds to pay hackers and to fund court proceedings as illegal benefits to law enforcement and judicial bodies," the anti-corruption agencies said.
The video released by NABU and SAPO contains fragments of audio recordings of the suspects’ conversations. One of the voices on these recordings resembles that of Iryna Mudra, who has since been dismissed as deputy head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office. In one fragment, that voice says, raising its tone, in Russian: "I’ve basically talked myself into a criminal charge, you understand?"
In the recorded conversations, the suspects complain about being unable to obtain information from NABU and SAPO and discuss how the anti-corruption system could be controlled.
"Corruption needs to be systematized and controlled… it shouldn’t be fought, it should be controlled," a voice resembling Mudra’s says in Russian.
The NABU and SAPO video notes that on Aug. 19, 2026, NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors notified members of the criminal organization of suspicion under Articles 191, 206-2, 358 and 361 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.
