Editor’s note: This story is being updated.
Herman Halushchenko, Ukraine’s former energy minister, was charged of money laundering and involvement in a criminal group as part of the country’s major corruption scandal, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) announced on Feb. 16.
The charges against Halushchenko were brought months after Ukraine was rocked the biggest corruption investigation during Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidency. A day earlier on Feb. 15, the ex-official was detained while attempting to leave Ukraine.
Halushchenko has been investigated by the NABU as part of a case involving state nuclear power company Energoatom. Eight other suspects have been charged, and Timur Mindich, a close associate of Zelensky, is the alleged ringleader.
Halushchenko served as energy minister from 2021 to 2025 and was appointed justice minister in July 2025. In November, the NABU searched properties linked to him as part of the investigation.
According to the NABU, members of the criminal group exposed by the anti-graft agencies in November initiated the registration a fund on the island of Anguilla in February 2021. The fund aimed to raise about $100 million in “investments,” with Halushchenko’s family among the “investors,” the bureau said.
The fund was led by a long-time associate of the criminal group, a citizen of the Seychelles and St. Kitts and Nevis, who “provided money laundering services for criminal proceeds,” the NABU said.
To conceal Halushchenko’s involvement, two companies were allegedely set up in the Marshall Islands, integrated into a trust structure registered in St. Kitts and Nevis. The beneficiaries were his ex-wife and four children, according to the bureau.
The NABU alleged that the companies became “investors” in the fund by buying shares, while members of the criminal group began transferring funds to the fund’s accounts in three Swiss banks, in the former minister’s interest.
According to the bureau, during Halushchenko’s tenure as energy minister, the group received over $112 million through Ihor Mironyuk, a former advisor to Halushchenko and a suspect in the case. The money was allegedly laundered using various methods, including cryptocurrency and “investments” in the fund.
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