Midas Case: NABU Exposes UAH 150M Bail Scheme

“It’s Saving Private Ryan, right? But only an idiot would fu*king put the theft of money and the payment of their children’s education in their children’s names. That’s Forrest Gump.”

Mykhailo Romaniuk: As part of a special operation aimed at eliminating high-level corruption, NABU and SAPO exposed a group of individuals who organized and facilitated the laundering of funds obtained through criminal means. The case involves UAH 150 million in cash, which, according to investigators, was put into legal circulation through a series of accounts belonging to shell companies to pay bail for one of the members of the criminal organization in the “Midas” case.

The group included the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, a former member of parliament, the chairman of the board of a state-owned bank, the chairman of the supervisory board of a state-owned bank, and other individuals.

To carry out the scheme, the group used a state-owned bank and the accounts of companies under their control. Each stage of the criminal plan was coordinated and overseen by him.

At the beginning of June, the organizers of the scheme gained de facto control over JSC Sense Bank. This enabled them to use the bank for their own interests.

June 8, 2026

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Ah, he called me in and said, “On Wednesday, the head of Sense Bank and the chairman of the Supervisory Board will come.” I said, “But we have the suspects — * and *” (likely referring to the Chairman of the Management Board and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sense Bank) “whom we had removed from office.”

He said, “Yeah.” And I said, “They’re already coming?” And he said they had been approached one by one. Not together, but separately, each in their own individual capacity. David and *** (head of a Verkhovna Rada committee) — to take over, well, to become the “roof” for Sense Bank.

Basically, they won’t mess with Sense Bank, and Sense Bank is supposed to pay them. First David came, then those guys, then *** (head of a Verkhovna Rada committee). They didn’t come together, but separately.

And our Israeli refugee calls me. Well, Timur, so to speak. He calls and says: David came, then those guys, then *** (senior OPU official). “Please, take Sense Bank.”

Because these crooks will bleed it dry, he says, and they simply can’t be allowed to. They came running. Well, you can’t trust these crooks with the bank, because there are flows of money there. He says, serious flows of money. “Take the bank.”

They’re ready for anything. Wherever *** (senior OPU official) tells them to send it, they’ll send it.

Former MP: Yeah, they’ll send it, right.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: “And we’ll take our cut.” There’s no need to appoint anyone as a “watcher.” They’ll do everything themselves.

So, they’ll come on Wednesday. He says, “*** (Deputy Head of the OPU), here’s the thing.” And I say, “Why do you need me? You’ll be having this conversation among yourselves, so what do you need me for?” He says, “Well, I’m not a banker. I don’t understand anything about this. I need you to listen to what he’s going to tell us.”

Former MP: Yeah. Just listen.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: And Timur says, “Listen, there are flows of money there, serious money.” He says, “Take it somewhere.” So, they’re in contact with *** (senior OPU official). And these hangers-on were already looking for a way to latch onto it.

But you see how quickly *** (one of the suspects in the “Midas” case) switched sides.

Former MP: Well, what else could he do?

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: He had his hands on all the money flows.

Former MP: Come on, that’s it.

June 10, 2026

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: That’s it. This *** (senior OPU official) has already said to communicate with *** (Deputy Head of the OPU) — no Veselykh, no one else. “We have no tasks for you,” he says. “We won’t give you any assignments, but if there’s a specific request, then please coordinate with *** (Deputy Head of the OPU).”

Former MP: Good.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: But today, these guys were practically begging to be taken in by Sense Bank. Just little angels. You know how they came crawling in, like those little kittens.

Former MP: Uh-huh.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: “Please take us on, please.” And then they came to me, and I said, “So, if I understand correctly…” Listen, look.

Former MP: Yes, I’m listening, I’m listening. I’ll see.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: I said, “So, if I understand correctly, your boss spoke to *** (senior OPU official) to take you under his protection.” And they were like, “Yeah, yeah.”

Former MP: So they admitted that he’s their boss?

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Yeah.

Former MP: They’re already ready to admit anything. A confession, as they say, right?

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Yes.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: During the investigation, NABU detectives also documented attempts to place individuals under the group’s control within NABU and other law enforcement agencies.

June 9, 2026

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Tomorrow there will be elections for members of the NABU Public Oversight Council, yes. That’s where our Inna is, and Anya ***, whom I know. How can we get as many votes as possible there? How can we do that? I mean, who can we send this to so they vote? Please take a look. We need to send this around to some people. Have a look, please. I sent it to you. Can you spread it around so that your people…

June 13, 2026

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Yesterday I went to see *** (senior OPU official), and I said, “*** (senior OPU official), we’re making the same mistake as last time. We’re not thinking about or preparing a successor to Klymenko. Klymenko is obviously hoping to get reappointed. But do we really want Klymenko to be reappointed? There is some information, you know.

I said, look, when… I mean, this is a person without principles. This person will step over you and move on. He’s not one of ours. The fact that he is communicating with you in this particular situation doesn’t mean he won’t come after you in the same way he went after Andrii and everyone else.

We need a talent pool. We do. We need to have people like that. We don’t have them. And that’s our big mistake. I said, the Americans are building this talent pool out of NABU officers. There are a lot of them, so to speak.

And they already have people for all the agencies where there will be competitions. They’ve already taken over the Customs Service, taken over the Economic Security Bureau, they’re about to take over ARMA, NABU, SAPO. I mean, all the agencies. Now the SBI.”

Former MP: The other question is, who can he recommend from within? Who can he recommend from inside?

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Because Klymenko will win again.

Former MP: That would strengthen him even further.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: And that’s it. He’ll get a second term, another seven years of power, and we’ll all be fu*ked, I’m telling you.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: The organizers of the scheme discussed the issue of posting bail for one of the members of the criminal organization in the “Midas” case.

June 9, 2026

Former MP: Uh-huh, uh-huh. They brought UAH 200 million for *** (one of the suspects in the “Midas” case).

Former MP’s trusted associate: They brought UAH 200 million?

Former MP: Yes. Now they’re thinking, fu*king hell, who’s going to pay it, right? Hello, hello. Come on, quickly check our companies — the ones we’ve, well, taken over and so on. Where can we pay UAH 200 million? Which companies can we use?

Former MP’s trusted associate: Max, it’ll also be difficult to deposit it. If we had it in a bank account, that would be one thing. We can’t deposit it. You can deposit UAH 400,000 from one person, but we won’t even be able to put all of it in.

Former MP: Listen. Is there, say, UAH 100 million in non-cash funds? Non-cash.

Influential businessman: Well, I don’t have any free cash right now, really.

Former MP: No, I mean, somewhere.

Influential businessman: Of course, I’ll make it happen for you.

Former MP: They brought UAH 200 million for Herman. Now we’re thinking, thinking about how to make the payment. Just between us, please. Don’t tell anyone — not Vadik, no one. Don’t tell anyone for now.

Influential businessman: Where will I have to transfer it? I don’t want to make the payment from my own account.

Former MP: It will have to be transferred to me. I’ll tell you where. I’ll make the payment.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: I was simply stunned that he was looking for a way to bring in a carload of cash.

Former MP: Well, because *** (one of the suspects in the “Midas” case). I mean, how else? *** (one of the suspects in the “Midas” case) brought it. He arranged security for it.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: *** (one of the suspects in the “Midas” case) controls it. He needs to take control for himself. Believe me, people pay big money for that, very quickly.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Yes.

Former MP: I’m ready to move UAH 50 million. I’m ready. Ready to receive it, ready to transfer it.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: And how are you going to deposit them…?

Former MP: I know, I know how to do it. UAH 50 million, and then another…

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: But how? What about financial monitoring?

Former MP: I won’t be the one receiving the money, no. The money will come to my account by bank transfer. Well, to accounts of companies that aren’t connected to me, by bank transfer, in amounts that correspond to their high profits. And they’ll make the payment.

June 17, 2026

Former MP: We need to either make it UAH 150 million, fu*k, or nothing. That’s what I mean. Either make it UAH 150 million or don’t do anything at all.

Former MP’s trusted associate: UAH 150 million?

Former MP: Here, let me break it down for you now. You do 50, you do 50.

Former MP’s trusted associate: Uh-huh.

Former MP: Nikita does 50. I’ll split it across three cars. Three of these fu*king things. And Artur does 50.

If we pull this off, you can just, fu*k, go straight to the Office of the President yourselves. You can go yourselves, fu*k. Believe me. I can see it already.

Former MP’s trusted associate: Let’s do it.

Former MP: I can see that he wants to resolve the issue. He doesn’t want to put *** (one of the suspects in the “Midas” case) into this now. He wants to resolve the issue because *** (one of the suspects in the “Midas” case) has already handed over Sense Bank to him in full.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: To legalize the funds, the participants in the crime involved companies and individuals under their control.

June 11, 2026

Former MP: Give me the person responsible for Sense.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: First, show *** (senior OPU official) the company itself — what kind of company is it?

Former MP: Okay, in what form should I show it?

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: What kind of company is it? Who are the beneficial owners? The beneficial owners, if there are any. If they’re listed here.

Former MP: In what form should I show this? No problem.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Well, write it down. Write it down.

Former MP: How? What do you mean, write it down? I mean, in what form am I supposed to present it?

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: You don’t know how? How? The company name, the beneficial owners, the EDRPOU code, so he can check it himself.

June 13, 2026

Former MP: Ideally, they should approve our company first. Ideally, they should approve it. You see?

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: What would be ideal?

Former MP: Ideally, they should approve “Giran Construct.”

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: This one?

Former MP: Yes.

Former MP: But there are, well, two companies with substantial turnover…

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: I asked for the contact details — who is in contact with whom.

Former MP: We’re all set. Look, for the UAH 150 million, the simplest option is the way I used to do it when I posted bail. That’s the easiest way out.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Someone will come over. But what company is this?

Former MP: Our company, ours. Give me the contact. I’ll try.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: And how much? I told *** (senior OPU official) that this was it. Because *** (senior OPU official) says, “Go to Pasha. He’s handling it there; let him give you UAH 50 million.” I said, “Probably…”

Former MP: No, no. I need them to bring it to Sense Bank.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Yes, yes.

Former MP: And then we’ll make the payment from there. No, I don’t want to deal with cash collection.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Yes, and there will need to be more there, right?

June 16, 2026

Former MP’s trusted associate: Hello, hi again.

Former MP: Yes, yes.

Former MP’s trusted associate: I have a proposal.

Former MP: Go ahead.

Former MP’s trusted associate: Nikita is sitting here next to me. His mother-in-law is already a seasoned woman, so open an account in the mother-in-law’s name.

Former MP: No, that’s the best option. Nothing, nothing bad will happen there. You understand who is controlling this.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: In addition, the participants in the crime involved the top management of a state-owned bank and coordinated the scheme with them.

June 13, 2026

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Well, look, *** (bank chairman) said that it would be better to communicate with him directly, so he’s ready.

Former MP: Well then, then Valik will come over. Valik will come over. So it’s not Nikita, it’s Valik, right? Send me his phone number.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Tell him it’s from me.

Former MP: From you, yes. Valik — from you, yes, yes.

Hello, hi. — Yes, look, you need to be there Monday morning. So, you’ll meet with the chairman of the management board of Sense Bank. You’ll have two issues to discuss. First, the payment of 50. — Right, and we have three companies there. One is the one this guy has, and we found two more. Well, we’ll see. You’ll decide yourself. These are the two key issues. You understand, right? — Yes, yes. Opening the account and making the payment. And yes, and getting approval, approval for bringing the money in, yes, yes.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: A trusted associate of the former MP talks about a meeting with the chairman of the management board of Sense Bank.

June 15, 2026

Former MP: Hello, yes, yes.

Former MP’s trusted associate: Look, I went there. We talked, and he was already aware of everything he needed to do. I explained to him that there would be cash and that it would be brought in.

Well, he understood what needed to be done. He just said, “Just tell me who it’s for.”

Former MP: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Former MP’s trusted associate: I told him, “I’ll call you by the end of the day and explain what needs to be done to make all of this happen.”

Former MP: So, basically, everything has become even easier for you, right?

Former MP’s trusted associate: Well, he was already in the know.

Former MP: Great. Yes, great, great.

Former MP’s trusted associate: Yes. Regarding all the questions he raised — “Do we have financial monitoring?” I said, “No, we don’t have financial monitoring. Whatever requirements you set so that your financial monitoring will approve it and you’ll feel comfortable, we’ll meet them.”

Former MP: You told him that, right?

Former MP’s trusted associate: Yes, yes.

Former MP: So if financial monitoring is needed, we’ll arrange it, so to speak, if necessary.

Former MP’s trusted associate: Yes, yes.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: On June 16, a trusted associate of the former MP met with the chairman of the management board of Sense Bank. Later, the trusted associate informed the former MP about the agreements reached during the meeting.

June 16, 2026

Trusted Associate: Look, here’s what he can do.

Former MP: Right.

Trusted Associate: He can help get it through. Because, he says, after the last bail payment that went through their bank, the mechanism was changed. And, as happens in all banks, the regulator came down hard on everyone, and at Sense this is now done through manual approval of the payment. But if it requires manual approval, you won’t get it through, under any circumstances. There’s just…

Former MP: One more time?

Trusted Associate: Look, the money has been credited to the account.

Former MP: Yes, yes. Uh-huh.

Trusted Associate: Now it needs to be sent. This is how it works: in the online banking system, you create a payment order.

Former MP: Uh-huh.

Trusted Associate: And it either goes through automatically, or the system filters out payments like this, in which case a bank employee has to manually review the payment order.

Former MP: Right, uh-huh.

Trusted Associate: An order has been given to block such payments. He says, “I thought about how to get around this. We could set it up so that some kind of system is put in place to filter these payments.”

Former MP: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Trusted Associate: “And the payment order will go through automatically. I’ll tell you this evening what date it needs to be done.”

Former MP: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Former MP: Hello. So, look — here’s the plan.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Yes.

Former MP: Under no circumstances will Financial Monitoring let it through that easily. So, tomorrow we open the account and deposit the money. He says, “I’ll create a window manually and release the money.” Manually.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: And what does that mean? I don’t understand.

Former MP: I don’t know how. He says, “That’s my problem. I’ll create a window manually, and we’ll release the money.” And it will be done for each amount. That’s it, basically.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Ah, and what amount is being deposited?

Former MP: Well, 50 for now. The first 50. The same 50.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: The former MP speaks by phone with the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and tells her about a conversation between his trusted associate and the chairman of the management board of Sense Bank.

June 17, 2026

Former MP: …At 10, we all got on a call. He says, “There’s this one nuance, this thing, if it can be passed along so that, you know, things stay quiet.” That’s it, right? And then, half an hour later, he immediately put us in touch with the head of Financial Monitoring, and now we’re already working it out with her.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Is that the unhinged woman?

Former MP: Yeah.

Former MP: Back then, they were forcing everything through. That wasn’t right either.

Former MP: But essentially, essentially, she’ll be the one who gets hit, you understand? They’ll come after her, basically.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Right.

Former MP: Exactly. But now we’re doing the opposite — we’re bringing the money in and coordinating everything with her.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Okay.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Well, that’s why, if she does it, she won’t be fired. Because *** (senior OPU official), when Oleksii came in for a conversation, *** (senior OPU official) told him to fire her. He literally said, “Fire her.” He says, “Okay, then give me the Financial Monitoring officer. If she does this, I won’t fire her.”

June 18, 2026

Former MP’s trusted associate: And they say that, for example, tomorrow from 12 p.m., our system will switch over to the service, so to speak. And when you create the payment, it goes through automatically. That’s how it will work. So, tomorrow.

Former MP: So this means it’s bypassing Financial Monitoring, right? Bypassing it?

Former MP’s trusted associate: The incoming transaction. Yes, yes.

Former MP: Bypassing Financial Monitoring, so they… Uh-huh.

Former MP’s trusted associate: Yes. Financial Monitoring monitors both incoming and outgoing transactions, and they create a window when they put their system onto the service. Then we create the payment order and send it so that it doesn’t go into manual review.

Former MP: Uh-huh.

Former MP’s trusted associate: Well, we have nowhere to send it right now. We don’t even have an account for the wife’s company yet.

Former MP: No, I mean, they don’t want to send it directly. So if it’s sent directly, that’s a problem for them, right?

Former MP’s trusted associate: Look, they can send it directly, but that creates a problem for Sense Bank, the bank I just left.

Former MP: You mean it’s a problem to release the money from there?

Former MP’s trusted associate: Yes. It’s a problem to legally receive the money in your own account and then legally transfer it out.

Former MP: I see. They need a transit account, right? They need a transit account.

Former MP’s trusted associate: Yes. They only need this kind of transit arrangement, which, as I understand it, they agreed on with Romanovna.

Former MP: Okay, yes.

Former MP: We’ll be releasing it using fake documents — he knows they’re fake documents. They’ll be preparing the documents over the weekend.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Who?

Former MP: We’ll be preparing the documents. He knows they’re fake documents.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Who is he?

Former MP: The chairman of the Supervisory Board. Mykola, or whatever his name is?

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Mykola.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: The first tranche of UAH 50 million was delivered to the former MP’s office and divided. UAH 15 million was received by his trusted associate, while UAH 35 million was transferred to a cash-conversion center, the so-called “laundry.”

June 22, 2026

Trusted Associate: Yes. Just so you understand, there were four bags. I immediately went to the parking lot with Sasha (technical glitch) as soon as they arrived.

Former MP: They just arrived. So, what are you going to do?

Trusted Associate: I’ve already contacted him about where to take the 35. I’ve been in touch with them. They’ll give us the address now.

Former MP: Right. And what about the rest?

Former MP: How the fu*k are we supposed to count it now? Huh?

Trusted Associate: I have no fu*king idea. There are four bags.

Former MP: For fu*k’s sake! Then get in the car yourself, fu*k, with Sasha. Count it there and leave the 15.

Trusted Associate: They’re taking the 35 now. The 15 has been brought into the office.

Former MP: Ah, okay. So you’ve got the 35 there.

Trusted Associate: Yes. They’re sending the address now. Sasha has it all.

Former MP: Let them count it down to the last penny — how much is actually there, how much there really is.

Trusted Associate: They’re taking the 35 now. They’ll count it, hand over the 35. I’ll signal Vasya, Vasya receives it. After that, Vasya works with us.

Former MP: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: Immediately after the meeting, the former MP informs his accomplice in the crime, an influential businessman, that the first tranche has been received.

June 22, 2026

Former MP: Hello. Vasya.

Known businessman: Hello. Vasya.

Former MP: The courier is on his way to us, so to speak. He’ll definitely count all three bags, right? Fu*k.

Known businessman: Everything will be fine. Don’t worry, Max.

Former MP: He’ll definitely count all three bags? At the parking lot, at the parking lot. There’s GUR security there, fu*k. They’ll tear his head off, fu*k.

Known businessman: Well, well, everything’s fine, don’t worry.

Former MP: Just so you understand, the head of security for this guy — well, you know who I mean.

Known businessman: Uh-huh. Everything’s fine.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: That same day, a second tranche of UAH 10 million was delivered.

Former MP: Hello, yes, darling. Yes.

Former MP: Yes. So, how are things on our end? Everything okay?

Former MP: Everything’s fine. Yes. They’re bringing us another 10 million now. Everything’s in progress.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: The chairman of the supervisory board of Sense Bank reports to the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine on the transfer of funds to the accounts of companies involved in the scheme.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Hello, Mykola. How are things? Give me a quick update.

Chairman of the Bank’s Supervisory Board: Ah, everything’s fine. Everything’s fine there. We’ve already accumulated the first part; everything will go through tomorrow.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: If you can, yes. The head just said that six zero was transferred, roughly in that range.

Chairman of the Bank’s Supervisory Board: Well, yes, let’s do it. Because we can only see part of it. Not everything has gone through yet. Tomorrow morning.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President: Tomorrow morning. Yes. Please don’t let me down. They’re already getting impatient over there.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: The third tranche of UAH 70 million was delivered to the former MP’s office and divided into two parts. UAH 20 million was received by his trusted associate, while UAH 50 million was transferred to the “laundry.”

June 23, 2026

Former MP: Order 70. Call Pavlo and order 70.

Trusted Associate: I was thinking the same thing — what to order.

Former MP: That’s it. If they ask for statements, I’ll send the statements over now. Yes. Go ahead.

Trusted Associate: Okay, then I also need to arrange for Vasya now, so he can order his share as well.

Former MP: Of course. Yes. He ordered 50. No, 50 — he called me and already agreed on 50. Yes, he ordered it.

Trusted Associate: Okay. You know what’s convenient for me? When these guys arrive and those couriers arrive, they meet together in the corner and transfer everything from one to another.

Former MP: So, give Vasya 50.

Former MP: And leave 20. Yes, yes, yes. Go ahead. 70, call Pavlo and order 70. Yes. Yes. Go ahead.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: They handled the final tranche of UAH 20 million using the same scheme.

June 23, 2026

Former MP: Yes, Valyusha.

Trusted Associate: Well, things are moving along here. They’ve already delivered 25. Another 25 will arrive in an hour to be picked up. Pasha is still waiting for 20 — I’ve already brought it to the office.

Former MP: Uh-huh.

Former MP: Look, I’m thinking now. Hello. Call Pavlo and tell him to deliver 23 with the accompanying documents. They’ll understand now. So that it’s ready for [unclear].

Former MP: By when?

Former MP: Today. Have it delivered today. Give it to Sasha; it’ll stay at my place overnight.

Trusted Associate: Hello. Look, he has exactly 20 there. He says he doesn’t have any more.

Former MP: He has 20, right?

Trusted Associate: Yes.

Mykhailo Romaniuk: On June 29, 2026, one of the suspects in the “Midas” case was released from custody after bail was posted in the amount of UAH 150 million. On August 19, 2026, NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors notified members of the criminal organization who organized and facilitated the payment of this bail using funds obtained through criminal activity of suspicion. The actions of the participants in the crime were qualified under Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The investigation is ongoing.

IN THE NEXT EPISODE:

He says, “Look, this is the wrong approach. Corruption needs to be systematized and controlled.”

“And take control of it.”

“Controlled.”

“And take control of it.”

“Controlled!”

“And take control of it. Take control of it immediately, take control of it immediately.”

“And control it. There’s no need to fight it,” he says. “It needs to be controlled.”

Because here, it’s impossible to fight it. You simply have to take control of it and control it.

Tags: Anti-Corruption Midas case nabu SAPO Sense Bank Ukraine Corruption Ukraine Politics