The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, has said courts should determine the significance of recordings that have raised questions about his involvement in an alleged $3.3 million money-laundering scheme aimed at securing bail for a former minister detained in a sprawling energy sector corruption probe.
Authorities have not publicly named Kyrylo Budanov and he has not been charged but court documents obtained by the Ukrainian news outlet hromadske appear to identify him participating in a conversation concerning the money laundering.
Responding to questions about the tapes, Budanov told hromadske that any determination regarding the recordings should be made by a judge. “Let the court figure out who appears where,” he said.
The allegations are linked to the «Midas» case, a vast corruption investigation centered on alleged bribery, embezzlement, and illicit financial control within Ukraine’s energy sector. Investigators believe the scheme was masterminded by businessman Timur Mindich, whose network has implicated several high-ranking government officials. A separate but related investigation concerns the alleged laundering of funds through state-owned banking infrastructure to post bail for former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko.
According to investigators, Mindich sought assistance to arrange Halushchenko’s release from custody. Budanov’s then-deputy, Iryna Mudra, was subsequently brought into the alleged scheme.
Prosecutors allege Mudra was tasked with legitimizing the bail money and recruited a former lawmaker who brought in several associates to route cash through bank accounts. In wiretaps cited by investigators, Mudra stated that Mindich had approached “Kyrylo” to take control of state-owned Sense Bank and its financial flows. Investigators allege the bank was later intended to be used in the money-laundering scheme.
The widening scandal has already reached the highest levels of government. President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Mudra earlier this month after anti-corruption authorities formally named her a suspect.
Mudra has denied wrongdoing, asserting that the wiretap recordings were released out of context and that she will defend her reputation in court. On Aug. 25, Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ordered her held in custody for 60 days, setting bail at 20 million hryvnias ($440,000).
