"Midas" corruption case: Ukraine charges former energy minister

Ukraine’s National Anti‑Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti‑Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have broadened the list of suspects in a major money‑laundering and corruption investigation known domestically as the “Midas” case, naming a former energy minister as a suspect.

According to the authorities, in February 2021 an investment fund was registered on the Caribbean island of Anguilla — a British Overseas Territory — on the initiative of individuals later identified by investigators as members of an organised criminal network. The fund was purportedly established to attract up to $100 million in “investments," Caliber.Az reports per NABU. 

The fund was reportedly led by a long‑time associate of the group, a dual citizen of the Seychelles and Saint Kitts and Nevis, who is accused of providing professional services linked to laundering proceeds of crime. Members of the suspect’s family were listed among the fund’s investors.

To conceal the involvement of the former official, investigators say, two companies were set up in the Marshall Islands and placed within a trust registered in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The companies were controlled by the former minister’s former spouse and four children, and acquired stakes in the fund. Prosecutors allege that members of the criminal network then channelled funds into the fund’s accounts held at three Swiss banks for the benefit of the suspect.

According to the investigation, more than $112 million in cash from alleged illicit activities in Ukraine’s energy sector was collected by the network during the official’s tenure in government, and was subsequently funnelled through various financial instruments including cryptocurrencies and purported “investments” into the Anguilla‑based fund.

Authorities say that over $7.4 million was transferred into fund accounts managed by the suspect’s family. In addition, about 1.3 million Swiss francs and 2.4 million euros were reportedly withdrawn in cash and handed directly to family members in Switzerland. Some of these funds were used to pay for the children’s education at schools in Switzerland and to generate further income through bank deposits.

On February 15, 2026, NABU detectives detained the former official as he attempted to leave Ukraine. He has been formally notified of suspicion under provisions of Ukraine’s Criminal Code relating to participation in a criminal organisation and money laundering. The investigation remains ongoing.

Operation Midas is a 15-month-long investigation by NABU and SAPO that uncovered a criminal network allegedly controlling procurement and contract flows at Energoatom, the state nuclear‑power company.

The network allegedly forced contractors to pay “kickbacks” equal to 10–15% of contract values to avoid payment blockades or losing supplier status.

By Sabina Mammadli