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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Law enforcement conducted searches of nominal directors and people in the circle of the former owner of Delta Bank, Mykola Lahun, within the criminal proceeding into money laundering on an especially large scale. According to sources in law enforcement, the investigation is being conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine, and during the investigative actions documents of more than 200 non-resident companies were seized.
As media report, the criminal case has number 42026000000000563. According to sources, searches occurred, among other places, at the back office of Maksym Chernov and in the office of attorney Denys Tarasyuk from Bright Advocates. Investigators seized an archive, several hundred seals, and originals of documents of foreign companies. Accounts related to the defendants in the case were, according to the materials, frozen. Bright Advocates was previously mentioned in publications as one of the structures connected with Lahun’s back office. After sanctions were introduced, Tarasyuk and former Delta Bank lawyer Anna Hutsaliuk began to withdraw from the group of related companies. Some legal entities were re-registered to other nominal owners, according to the investigations. The history of criminal claims against the former owner of Delta Bank begins after the financial institution was recognized as insolvent in March 2015. In the bank case materials, so-called back-to-back transactions were involved, by which Delta’s funds were placed in European banks as collateral for loans to offshore companies. According to the operations described in the case materials, offshore borrowers did not repay the loans, after which foreign banks used Delta’s funds as collateral. Through Meinl Bank, $87,3 million were written off, and through Bank Winter — another $50 million. The total volume of transactions through Meinl Bank, Bank Frick, East-West United and Bank Winter was estimated at about $437,2 million. Separately, the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Individuals demands from Lahun, his sister Antonina, Tarasyuk, and former top bank managers 22,86 billion UAH. Case No. 910/21280/21 is being heard by courts. In 2024 year, Kyiv Commercial Court refused the Fund’s claim, but the North Appeal Commercial Court revived proceedings. The appeal hearing was scheduled for 8 September 2026 of the year. Other episodes related to Lahun were also investigated. In 2021 he was informed of suspicion of misappropriating more than 1,1 billion UAH. Among the implicated operations was a loan of 450 million UAH to a related company, a substantial part of which, according to the investigation, the bank did not recover. In another case concerning the withdrawal of more than $76,5 million, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv in October 2023 year declared Lahun wanted. Lahun is in Austria and participates in Ukrainian court processes remotely. Parallely, he sought to initiate his own bankruptcy proceedings, which the National Bank opposed. In addition to the requirements of the FGDV (Fund) for 22,86 billion UAH, other financial claims against the former banker remained in courts, notably for 791,2 million. 20 September 2025 of the year, President Volodymyr Zelensky issued the NSDC decision on ten-year sanctions against Lahun. The decision was made upon the SBU’s submission. Earlier, media reported Russian citizenship of the former Delta Bank owner. According to the published copy of the document, Lahun’s Russian passport was issued in 2014 year by the migration service unit in the Iron Roaded district of the occupied Simferopol. Lahun’s ties to the Russian business environment were also mentioned in investigations into the creation of Delta Bank. Among people connected with shaping the financial institution were Kirill Dmitriev, who later headed the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Publications also analyzed the connection between Lahun and Dmitriev with back-to-back operations via Western banks.
New searches may give the investigation access to the corporate archive and documents of more than 200 foreign companies if their connection to the investigated financial scheme is confirmed. At the same time, the seizure of documents and arrest of accounts by themselves do not prove the guilt of the defendants. A final legal assessment of the circumstances of the criminal proceeding must be provided by a court.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Микола Лагун: зв'язки з РФ і обшуки у справі про $23 млрд". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Fraza.
