Carthage suspects knew about searches, information leak occurred. SSU took part in attack on NABU and SAPO – Kryvonos

During Operation Carthage, NABU detectives acted strictly within the law, based on rulings by investigating judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court.

NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko said this during a joint briefing, Censor.NET reports.

Searches at the Prosecutor General’s Office

"What was seized was a reference note, not criminal case materials. It contains information about cases involving our detectives, and listening devices had previously been found in some of their homes. These detectives are working on important criminal proceedings," Kryvonos said.

SAPO head Oleksandr Klymenko confirmed that no overarching case file or materials from criminal proceedings had been seized.

"What was seized was a list of key detectives who had faced pressure. It contained information about measures that had been taken or were planned against the detectives," he said.

Information leak and the SSU

"The resistance to this criminal proceeding (Carthage) is immense. There is constant monitoring of the register of court decisions. According to our information, the suspects knew that a search would take place. We will establish how information was leaked again," he said.

According to the NABU head, suspects obtain information about searches through the situation surrounding the register of property rights.

Kryvonos added that reference notes concerning several NABU detectives had been prepared by officers of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). In particular, this involved Main Directorate D (the Directorate for Counterintelligence Measures to Protect the National Information Sphere) within the department.

"Two weeks ago, SSU officers tried to gain access to the log of the judicial system to see which NABU motions were being submitted to the High Anti-Corruption Court. We wrote that this system contains, among other things, information about motions seeking permission to conduct searches and other investigative actions," Kryvonos said.

Suspicion against Kravchenko

Regarding a notice of suspicion against Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, Klymenko said that the anti-corruption bodies had "never announced and will never announce notices of suspicion."

"If a sufficient body of evidence has been collected to issue a notice of suspicion, that notice is served," the SAPO head stressed.

Operation "Carthage"

Earlier, Ukrainska Pravda, citing its own sources, reported that NABU and SAPO were allegedly conducting searches targeting Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, his deputy Mariia Vdovychenko, and Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration (RMA) Oleh Kiper.
On 4 September, NABU and SAPO reported the alleged "protection" by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) of a network of so-called call centers that defraud people.
According to media reports, NABU and SAPO detained Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the PGO’s Department of International Legal Cooperation.
Before taking up his current position at the PGO, Kropyva served as deputy head of the Odesa Regional State Administration on Oleh Kiper’s team.
Against this backdrop, NABU announced a new operation called "Carthage."
The Prosecutor General’s Office stated that it would suspend the employee whose possible involvement in "protecting a network" of fraudulent call centers and laundering assets is being investigated.
According to updated information, NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) uncovered a criminal organisation whose members systematically received bribes from fraudulent call centres and laundered millions. The organiser of the scheme was identified as the head of one of the Prosecutor General’s Office divisions.
Recordings of the criminal group of Prosecutor General’s Office employees were also released.
The Prosecutor General’s Office later confirmed searches at the premises of Prosecutor General Kravchenko and his deputy.
The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed a pretrial restraint measure on Prosecutor General’s Office official Kropyva.
On September 7, Ivakhnenko was remanded in custody with bail set at UAH 20 million.
On the evening of 7 September, Kravchenko resigned from his post as Prosecutor General.
Following him, Deputy Prosecutor General Mariia Vdovychenko, who is implicated in the anti-corruption bodies’ investigation, also resigned from the Prosecutor General’s Office.