Andriy Yermak, once Ukraine’s second most powerful official and chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was arrested on May 14 by Ukraine’s anti-corruption court on money laundering charges tied to a $10.5 million scheme linked to an elite housing development near Kyiv called 'Dynasty' [1, 2, 3].
The court set bail at about 140 million hryvnias (approximately $3.2 to $4 million), which Yermak said he cannot pay. "I don't have that kind of money, and my lawyer will now work with friends and acquaintances to raise the money for bail," he told the court [2]. The court ordered a 60-day pretrial detention pending bail payment [4].
Yermak has denied all allegations, calling the charges "baseless" and "unfounded." He stated, "The notice of suspicion is unfounded. As a lawyer with more than 30 years of experience, I have always been guided by the law. And now I will likewise defend my rights, my name, and my reputation." He added, "I am standing by my position. I will continue to fight. I will stay in Ukraine ... I have nothing to hide." Yermak also said, "I do not have any house, I only have one flat and one car" [1, 2, 5, 4].
The money laundering allegedly involved fictitious documents, cash transactions, and shell companies linked to the "Dynasty" luxury housing estate project started in 2021 near Kyiv. Investigators say the illicit funds came from corrupt schemes involving Ukraine's state-owned nuclear energy company Energoatom [3, 6, 5]. Oleksandr Klymenko, head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), called it "a particularly serious crime" and said authorities are gathering evidence [3].
The probe is part of a wide anti-corruption operation named "Midas," which targets multiple officials, including former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, businessman Timur Mindich, and ex-Energy Minister Herman Haluschenko [1, 5, 7]. Mindich, co-owner of Zelenskyy’s former TV studio Kvartal95 and a close associate of Yermak, has fled Ukraine and denied wrongdoing [1, 3, 5, 7].
Yermak resigned his chief of staff post in November 2025 after anti-corruption raids on his home and office. His role as lead negotiator in US-backed peace talks with Russia had made him a key figure during Ukraine’s war [1, 8, 3, 5, 9]. Zelenskyy is not formally accused or linked to the probe, according to anti-corruption officials [1, 9].
Following the arrest order on May 14, Yermak vowed to appeal. His pretrial detention period is set at 60 days unless he posts bail [2, 10, 3, 6, 4, 7].
