President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked lawmakers to support, at Tuesday's session, a bill imposing strict criminal liability for organizing fraudulent call centers, as well as the dismissal of Ruslan Kravchenko as prosecutor general.
"We need to put an end to the story of fraudulent call centers in Ukraine — bills on strict criminal liability for such call centers are also on the agenda. I ask you to support this liability. And I ask all lawmakers to likewise support the decision tomorrow to dismiss the prosecutor general. I suspended him by decree. My submission for his dismissal is with the Verkhovna Rada — I've sent it. Ukraine has seen the reasons for this, and there should be enough votes," Zelenskyy said in his evening video address Monday.
As previously reported, Zelenskyy submitted two bills to the Verkhovna Rada on Sept 2 to toughen liability for organizing and participating in fraudulent call centers, as well as to strengthen protections for people against illegal actions involving payment instruments and bank accounts. The bills also introduce tougher liability for organizing fraud schemes involving banking instruments, including so-called "drops," according to the president. The same bill also implements EU legal norms in Ukraine, as agreed with partners.
NABU and SAPO subsequently exposed five members of a criminal organization headed by an Office of the Prosecutor General official, who systematically received illicit benefits for covering up a network of fraudulent call centers and laundered more than UAH 42 million through property purchases, including apartments in the Carpathians, jewelry, and funds placed in relatives' accounts.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko submitted his resignation on Sept 7 amid a NABU investigation under the "Carthage" operation, in which he and his first deputy, Maria Vdovychenko, appear in materials from covert investigative actions. He categorically denied any involvement in laundering funds from illegal call centers or having undeclared assets, calling the anti-corruption bureau's accusations baseless. On Sept 14, however, he signed a notice of suspicion against the NABU director, having earlier left Ukraine, reportedly on a trip to attend PACE parliamentary network hearings, though PACE said Kravchenko would not be taking part in the session.
Zelenskyy has submitted a request to the Verkhovna Rada for consent to dismiss Kravchenko from his post. Servant of the People faction leader Davyd Arakhamia said a vote on Kravchenko's dismissal as prosecutor general will take place at the Verkhovna Rada's plenary session on Sept 15.
