Former Prosecutor General Lutsenko comments on possible ties between "Carthage" suspect Criminal and Maliuk
Former Prosecutor General Yurii Lutsenko explained the possible origins of ties between Andrii Osipov ("Criminal"), a suspect in NABU’s Operation Carthage, and former SSU chief Vasyl Maliuk.
He said this during a broadcast hosted by journalist Iryna Romaliiska, Censor.NET reports.
Possible ties between Maliuk and Osipov
According to Lutsenko, ties between Andrii Osipov ("Criminal"), a suspect in NABU’s Operation Carthage, and former SSU chief Vasyl Maliuk may date back to Maliuk’s time working in Zhytomyr region.
Lutsenko said that until 2019, Maliuk served as deputy head of the SBU Directorate in Zhytomyr region and was responsible for combating organized crime.
"It is very simple. Until 2019, Maliuk worked as deputy head of the SSU’s Zhytomyr Directorate, specifically as the so-called ‘deputy in charge of the gangster beat’. In other words, his official duties included maintaining a network of informants among criminals — organized crime is one of the SSU’s important areas of responsibility. So he had informants, just like every operative (and was required to have at least a certain number of them). One of them used the alias ‘Kryminal’. The point is that when a criminal investigations chief is promoted, he generally hands his informant network over to his successor. Here, however, we see that this ‘Kryminal’ went on to communicate not with SSU officers in Zhytomyr, but with the head of the K Directorate within Department D himself (because the K Service was disbanded, and its personnel were transferred, with reduced status, to the Department for the Protection of National Statehood)," the former prosecutor general said.
Lutsenko stressed that he did not know whether Osipov had been in direct contact with Maliuk after the latter was appointed head of the security service. However, he pointed out that Kryminal’s close cooperation with Maliuk’s confidant Serhii Duka was clearly documented in the recordings released by NABU.
"And this always raises a very simple question. It applies to the interior minister, whose subordinate in an elite unit is protecting a drug cartel; to the head of the Security Service, whose subordinate is protecting a drug cartel; and to the prosecutor general, whose subordinate (Mariia Vdovychenko, a former deputy to the now former prosecutor general - ed.) is apparently protecting a drug cartel. There is a very simple question for all of them: if you don’t know about this, then what good are you as leaders? If you do know, then it is a catastrophe for the country’s law enforcement system," Lutsenko said.
NABU's Operation "Carthage"
- NABU earlier reported that a senior Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) official was threatening to use a weapon and obstructing a search.
- The Bureau subsequently said that NABU and SAPO had exposed a criminal organization that systematically bribed senior SSU, National Police, and prosecution officials to provide "protection" for fraudulent call centers and other illegal businesses.
- NABU said that the "Carthage" investigation had exposed a criminal organization whose members had arranged systematic bribes to senior law enforcement officials to ensure the unhindered operation of fraudulent call centers and other illegal businesses.
- It was subsequently reported that anti-corruption authorities had detained General Serhii Duka, first deputy head of the SSU's Department for the Protection of National Statehood.
- SSU chief Oleksandr Poklad dismissed two senior Service officials implicated in NABU's investigation under Operation "Carthage." He also suggested that a suspect in the case known as "Mexican" return to Ukraine and surrender to law enforcement.
- NABU and SAPO named five suspects in providing cover for illegal businesses. Those implicated include senior Security Service of Ukraine and National Police officials.
- The main suspects in the case were remanded in custody without bail on November 5–6.
