Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has conducted searches at the home of the driver of Andriy Yermak, the notorious figure in the Ukrainian corruption scandal known as Ali Baba, reports Magyar Nemzet.
According to information from Ukrainian portal ZN, Zelensky was warned that both Yermak and Rustem Uterov were involved in the corruption scandal, famously known for the golden toilet found during a raid on properties owned by Timur Mindich, aka Zelensky’s “cash wallet.”
The Mindich case, based on a 15-month investigation by NABU and over 1,000 hours of audio recordings, is one of, if not the, biggest corruption scandals in Ukrainian history. The threads reach
into Zelensky’s inner circle, with the central figure, Mindich, a friend and former business partner of the president.
Mindich fled the country to Israel, while another friend of Zelensky’s, former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, was remanded into custody.
Despite the involvement of the presidential confidants in the Mindich case, the Zelensky government sent Yermak, and then after his fall, sent Umerov to peace talks.
NABU has now conducted searches at the home of the driver of Andriy Yermak, the former head of the presidential administration, sources in law enforcement agencies told ZN. During the investigative measures, phones and other electronic media were seized.
The portal wrote that a few days before the searches, the leadership of NABU and SAP warned President Volodymyr Zelensky about the suspicions against Andriy Yermak and Rustem Umerov. Despite this, the president appointed them as the heads of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation at the Swiss and then American peace talks.
ZN also noted that on the morning of Nov. 28, searches were conducted in the presidential office, and some sources even then specified that suspicions had arisen against Yermak, which was related to one of the corruption cases. On the same day, Zelensky accepted Andriy Yermak’s resignation.
Zelensky’s man has not yet been officially charged, but it is only a matter of time.
“Although NABU usually tries to report the suspicion on the day of the house searches, this rule is not mandatory. The president’s godfather, Oleksiy Chernyshov, found out what the anti-corruption agencies are accusing him of only four months after the house searches,” the source informed the Ukrainian newspaper.
The law enforcement source also stressed that the investigation is in an active phase and that NABU is aware of both the importance of the actor and the public’s demand for quick results. However, the agency does not intend to act under pressure for the sake of a “same-day effect.”
“Reason for delay: Evidence needs to be collected to stand trial,” the informant explained.
