Operation Midas. Businessman "Carlson" and six other people received suspicion from NABU

On November 11, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau served notice of suspicion to seven defendants in the Energoatom corruption case as part of Operation Midas, including a well-known businessman, hidden by the investigation under the pseudonym "Carlson." This is stated on the NABU website .

The other suspects are a former advisor to the Minister of Energy ("Rocket"), the Executive Director for Physical Protection and Security of Energoatom ("Tenor") and four people who, according to the investigation, were involved in money laundering.

Five of them are detained.

The scheme being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau involves extortion of kickbacks from Energoatom's suppliers and contractors. They were forced to pay 10-15% of the contract value, otherwise the company was blocked from paying for services and products delivered or deprived of supplier status.

According to the investigation, the organizers, through their people – an adviser to the Minister of Energy and the Executive Director for Security of Energoatom – controlled personnel appointments, procurement processes and financial flows of the company.

"In fact, the management of a strategic enterprise with an annual revenue of over UAH 200 billion was carried out not by official officials, but by unauthorized persons who had no formal authority but assumed the role of watchdogs," NABU claims.

The money was legalized through a special office in the center of Kyiv, where black accounting was kept, and a network of offshore companies. Over 15 months, about $100 million passed through this "laundry", according to NABU.

The premises belonged to the family of former MP and now Russian Senator Andrii Derkach.

• november 10 NABU conducts 70 searches, including of Kvartal 95 co-owner Timur Mindich, involving all the bureau's detectives, in the Energoatom corruption case.