A Ukrainian anti-corruption court has ordered the pretrial detention of Andriy Yermak, who served as chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky, in what legal observers describe as the most significant prosecution of a former senior presidential figure to date.
The court set bail at 140 million hryvnias, approximately $3.2 million. Yermak is suspected of involvement in a scheme to launder roughly $10.5 million through a luxury residential development project on the outskirts of Kyiv called Dynasty.
Yermak has denied the allegations, telling the court he does not possess the personal funds necessary to post bail. His legal team has announced plans to appeal the detention ruling.
The case is part of a broader anti-corruption investigation known as Operation Midas, which centers on allegations of kickbacks and money laundering linked to Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear energy operator Energoatom. Investigators believe funds channeled into the luxury construction project may be connected to this wider network of illicit financial activity within the energy sector.