Ukraine's Prosecutor General suspected of running a corruption scheme protecting scam call centers

Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), as part of an operation codenamed "Carthage," have uncovered a group accused of taking bribes to shield fraudulent call centers from law enforcement — operating not only in Ukraine but abroad as well, including in Czechia. According to the outlet Ukrainska Pravda, Serhii Kropyva, head of the Cyber Department at Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office, was detained on Friday. In wiretaps, he reportedly appears under the codename "Chancellor."

According to NABU's case materials, "Chancellor" answered to a figure referred to as "the Boss." This person is never named directly, but is referred to by the patronymic "Andriyovych" — which matches that of Ukraine's actual Prosecutor General, Ruslan Kravchenko. The recordings also feature characters nicknamed "the Chief" and "the Muse," along with references to an "empire" and bribes paid to police officers.

Searches and a missing prosecutor general

According to sources cited by Ukrainska Pravda, NABU and SAPO are conducting — or have already conducted — searches at the homes of Kravchenko himself, his deputy Maria Vdovychenko, and the head of the Odesa regional administration, Oleh Kiper. The Prosecutor General himself, the outlet reports, has reportedly been unreachable for more than 12 hours, according to information released Saturday afternoon.

On Friday, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine said it would cooperate with the investigation and provide "every possible assistance."

Tens of millions of hryvnias and luxury real estate

According to Ukrainian television channel NV, the sums involved amount to at least 22 million hryvnias — roughly 10.25 million Czech crowns. Assets worth more than 12 million hryvnias (around 5.6 million crowns), including property in a sought-after residential complex near the Carpathians, were allegedly legalized by "Chancellor" by transferring ownership to proxies.

Another roughly 10 million hryvnias (over 4.65 million crowns) were reportedly transferred by members of the group shielding the fraudulent call centers into relatives' bank accounts, disguised as "legitimate income" for supposed services rendered to the prosecutor's office. In reality, investigators say, these were systematic bribes ensuring that the relevant authorities would not interfere with the call centers' operations — call centers that defrauded victims both in Ukraine and abroad.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz