The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has opened criminal proceedings after public statements about possible systemic corruption among former high-ranking officials of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
This was reported to Babel by the NABU press service.
Before that, a Ukrainian businessman who is currently abroad Serhiy Vahanyan in an interview with former MP Boryslav Bereza, stated that during the leadership of Ivan Bakanov (2019 — 2022), SBU was turned into an instrument of systemic racketeering.
According to him, Bakanov and the then head of the Main Department of Internal Security of SBU Andriy Naumov organized extortions from businesses, and turned the NSDC sanctions into "their own business project".
Vahanyan said that he himself paid the money from the profits from grain exports — in return he was promised "no problems with control bodies".
Describing the distribution of roles in SBU at the time, Vahanyan emphasized that the Service was actually led by Naumov, while Bakanov was “only a liaison between Naumov and President Volodymyr Zelensky”. According to the businessman, Naumov’s people still remain in the SBU system and other government bodies, and they retain influence.
After the interview was released, the current MP from "European Solidarity" Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze stated that her colleagues had contacted NABU, SBU, and SBI with a request to find out whether criminal proceedings would be opened based on the published facts.
What is known about former high-ranking SBU officials?
In July 2022, Ivan Bakanov was dismissed from the post of the SBU head due to improper performance of official duties, which led to human casualties or other serious consequences or created a threat of such consequences.
President Volodymyr Zelensky then explained that he decided to dismiss Bakanov due to the large number of criminal proceedings for treason and collaboration among law enforcement officers.
The "right hand" of the then head of SBU Andriy Naumov — the head of the internal security department — left Ukraine a few hours before the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
In Ukraine, Naumov was informed of three suspicions — of illicit enrichment, of misappropriation of property through abuse of official position, and of fraud, which caused losses to the state of more than UAH 3.2 million.
Schemes wrote that the State Bureau of Investigation also initiated criminal proceedings under the article "high treason", but he was not charged.
In early June 2022, Naumov was detained in Serbia while trying to enter North Macedonia. Hundreds of thousands of euros were found in his car. He tried to forge official documents about the alleged legal origin of funds and property, for which he was reported in Serbia on suspicion of forging documents. In October 2024, he was finally sentenced in Serbia to a year in prison.
On August 28, 2024, Naumov was put on the international wanted list.
СХЕМИ / Радіо свобода
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