The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) searched the premises of National Bank of Ukraine head Andriy Pyshnyi and the home of a bank employee on October 21. NABU stated that the agency is conducting searches but has not detained or charged anyone. The bureau refuses to disclose details to protect the confidentiality of the pretrial investigation. This raid follows criticism of the National Bank of Ukraine for failing to prevent a 150 million Hryvnia ($3.4 million) payment through state-owned Sense Bank. That June payment allegedly used laundered money to post bail for former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko. In August, authorities charged Iryna Mudra, the former Deputy Chief of Staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky, alongside Sense Bank CEO Oleksiy Stupak and former supervisory board head Mykola Hladyshchenko, for laundering money to post bail for Halushchenko. The central bank also faced criticism for failing to address criminal schemes involving Sense Bank in general, and Halushchenko faces charges from a February probe into the state nuclear power monopoly Energoatom.
Corruption links to Sense Bank
Leaked text messages published by Bihus.info on September 15 allege that Kyrylo Budanov, Zelensky’s Chief of Staff, asked Mudra to launder cash to pay bail for Halushchenko. This investigation into the National Bank of Ukraine highlights a massive failure to stop criminal schemes involving state-connected financial institutions. Leaked NABU transcripts from August contain references to "Kyrylo," "Kyrylo Oleksiyovich," Mudra’s unnamed boss, and a top official at the President’s Office, including direct references to Budanov’s last name. Other leaked transcripts from April and May mention Vasyl Veselyi and Oleksandr Tsukerman discussing board appointments at Sense Bank. Former Sense Bank supervisory board head Sevki Acuner claimed in September that Pyshnyi recommended Veselyi for a position at the bank, though Pyshnyi denied the allegation. According to Ekonomichna Pravda, Pyshnyi and Veselyi knew each other through the late lawmaker Andriy Ivanchuk, who was a university classmate of Pyshnyi. Furthermore, leaked April transcripts suggest that Timur Mindich, the alleged ringleader of the Energoatom corruption scheme, and Rustem Umerov, the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, planned to discuss funding for drone maker Fire Point with Pyshnyi and Sense Bank. Pyshnyi denied discussing the matter with anyone.
