Bribes for protecting scam call centers: new details in the “Carthage” case

In the “Carthage” case, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced that they had uncovered a criminal organization. According to investigators, its members systematically received illicit payments from scam call centers and laundered the money. According to nabu.gov.ua.

Investigators believe the scheme was organized by one of the heads of departments within the Office of the Prosecutor General. The statement also describes the systematic payment of bribes to senior law enforcement officials to ensure they did not interfere with the operations of scam call centers and other illegal businesses.

NABU reported the suspected involvement in the criminal activity of:

• serving senior officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU);
• serving senior officers of the National Police;
• serving senior officials of the Office of the Prosecutor General;
• representatives of the criminal underworld.

The operation was named “Carthage”. Law enforcement officials said they would provide further details about this new stage of the investigation.

Against the backdrop of these reports, former Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko issued a statement about NABU’s actions. He called the actions of NABU and SAPO political revenge and an attempt to destabilize the country.

According to Kravchenko, detectives are searching the homes of three senior SBU officers. He claims their units had previously taken part in investigating criminal cases involving:

• NABU Director Semen Kryvonos;
• people close to SAPO Head Oleksandr Klymenko and members of his family.

Ruslan Kravchenko promised to publish information about the relevant criminal case. He also said he intended to comment on the closure of the case involving the NABU director.

We previously reported:

• Scandal at the highest level: Ukraine’s Prosecutor General signed an indictment against the head of NABU and left the country
• When the “protection” started to leak: how call centers led NABU straight to the Prosecutor General’s office
• The HACC remanded an Office of the Prosecutor General official’s driver in custody, setting bail at UAH 3 million
• The Office of the Prosecutor General confirmed NABU’s overnight investigative actions on its leadership’s premises
• A criminal organization linked to scam call centers uncovered at the Office of the Prosecutor General