Within Operation "Carthage", NABU detectives have established that a criminal organization, which, according to the investigation, operated under the cover of high-ranking law enforcement officials, coordinated the work of at least 52 fraudulent call centers. More than 2,700 people worked in them. For the ability to conduct illegal business without hindrance, the organizers monthly passed bribes to representatives of the SBU, National Police and prosecutor's office.
This is stated in new materials from NABU and SAPO published on November 4. The anti-corruption agencies presented recordings of conversations of the suspects and described in detail the mechanisms of the organization's activities.
According to the investigation, the standard fee for covering one fraudulent call center was 7 thousand dollars per month.
The organizers passed the addresses of the call centers to representatives of law enforcement agencies, after which by the fifth day of each month they transferred funds in cryptocurrency to specified wallets.
The addresses of facilities that paid bribes were accounted centrally. According to NABU, this allowed controlling their activities and preventing uncoordinated investigative actions against such call centers.
On one of the cryptocurrency wallets featured in the investigation, for the period from October 16, 2025, to April 25, 2026, investigators recorded receipts of 3.75 million USDT.
This is a cryptocurrency stablecoin whose value is pegged to the US dollar. At the same time, the presented materials do not specify what portion of the indicated amount directly went to payments to specific officials.
Participants of the criminal organization, according to NABU, were at least 12 people. Among them are representatives of the criminal environment, current law enforcement officers and persons linked to international drug business.
One of the key suspects, the investigation calls a person nicknamed "Mexican", which it links to the transnational drug syndicate "Khimprom". According to NABU information, this is a citizen of Russia, put on the wanted list in the Russian Federation back in 2016, and since 2019 - also in Ukraine.
The bureau claims that after the start of the full-scale war, the drug syndicate continued its activities in Ukraine and abroad. In addition, the published recordings, according to investigators, indicate contacts of its leader with representatives of the Russian FSB.
To organize cover in Ukraine, "Mexican" engaged a man nicknamed "Criminal" who had previously been repeatedly convicted and had connections among law enforcement officers.
In the NABU materials, the role of National Police and SBU officials who, according to the investigation, helped the organization avoid inspections and searches is separately described.
In particular, a law enforcement officer with the callsign "Price", whom NABU names as one of the heads of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police, allegedly received funds for non-interference in the work of specific call centers at least from January to July 2026.
Investigators also documented a case when, after a search of one of the call centers, the suspects tried to return the seized equipment through court. According to NABU, a law enforcement officer helped organize the filing of complaints to the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv and discussed possible payment for the needed decision.
Subsequently, the equipment was returned, and to the cryptocurrency wallet specified by the suspects, according to the investigation, funds were received.
Another suspect, marked in the records as "Akim", is a high-ranking SBU official with the rank of major general. According to NABU, he provided the organization protection from the attention of other employees of the special service and helped resolve issues in law enforcement agencies.
At the end of July 2026, after instructions from the state leadership to intensify the fight against fraudulent call centers, the participants of the organization, according to the investigation, received a warning about the need to temporarily stop work and strengthen conspiracy.
However, fraudulent call centers were only one of the areas of the group's activities.
NABU also reported the probable involvement of its participants in the sale of narcotic drugs through the U-420 store network, illegal production of counterfeit cigarettes and counterfeiting of foreign currency.
According to the investigation, in 2026 the participants of the organization set up an underground workshop for the production of fake euros. For this, they used special printing equipment and materials to imitate the security features of banknotes.
In addition, the recordings discuss the possibility of bribing high-ranking officials to prevent restrictions on the activities of stores connected with the sale of cannabis-based substances. NABU noted that this plan was not implemented.
A separate block of the published materials concerns violent crimes and possible use of official information by law enforcement officers.
According to the investigation, members of the organization are involved in contract attacks, kidnappings, torture and extortion of large sums of money.
In particular, NABU cited the circumstances of an attack on a man near a sports club in the center of Kyiv in July 2026. Investigators claim that during the preparation, the attackers received data on the movements of the victim from the "Safe City" video surveillance system.
According to the bureau, access to the corresponding records was made from the account of an employee of the Department for the Protection of National Statehood of the SBU.
After the attack, one of the suspects, whom the investigation calls a current police officer, allegedly informed the organizers about the progress of the investigation and the absence of a plan to intercept the attackers.
In the published conversations, threats to journalists and public activists who drew attention to the activities of businesses controlled by the group were also discussed. In particular, the suspects mentioned the Bihus.Info investigation and the possibility of physical pressure on its authors. The very fact of discussing such intentions does not indicate their implementation.
NABU also claims that certain participants of the organization could have been involved in attempts to obstruct the activities of anti-corruption agencies in the summer of 2025. The investigation examines the circumstances of possible interference in criminal proceedings and attempts to prevent the transfer of information to detectives.
Earlier on November 4, it was reported about NABU searches at high-ranking SBU officials and the decision of the National Police to suspend employees against whom procedural measures were taken.
The SBU confirmed the searches based on court rulings and stated its assistance to the investigation. The National Police also reported cooperation with NABU and called to refrain from premature conclusions.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. All the stated circumstances are the version of the investigation, and the guilt of specific individuals must be established by a court.
Based on materials: NABU - video materials of operation "Carthage", NABU - investigation materials
