SBU Conducted Large-Scale Searches of Lawyers Connected to Mykola Lahun’s Circle: Hundreds of Seals Seized, Billion-Level Debts Found, and About 200 Non-Resident Companies

Law enforcement conducted searches of nominal directors and people in the circle of the former owner of Delta Bank, Mykola Lahun. The criminal case ¹42026000000000563 concerns money laundering on a very large scale. According to sources in law enforcement, the SBU is handling the case.

In the back office of Maksym Chernov and in the office of lawyer Denys Tarasiuk of Bireyt Advocaci, archives, several hundred seals, and originals of documents from more than 200 nonresident companies were seized. Accounts were frozen.

Bireyt Advocaci had previously been mentioned in publications as one of the back-office structures for Lahun. After sanctions were imposed, Tarasiuk and former Delta Bank lawyer Anna Hutsaliuk began exiting related companies, with some firms being transferred to new nominal owners.

Delta Bank was declared insolvent by the National Bank of Ukraine in March 2015 year. Through back-to-back operations, the bank's funds were placed in European banks as collateral for loans to offshore companies. The offshore entities did not repay the loans, after which foreign banks wrote off Delta’s money. Through Meinl Bank, $87,3 million were written off; through Bank Winter, another $50 million. The total volume of operations through Meinl Bank, Bank Frick, East-West United, and Bank Winter is estimated at approximately $437,2 million.

The Deposit Guarantee Fund for Individuals demands from Lahun, his sister Antonina, Tarasiuk, and former top managers of the bank 22,86 billion UAH in case ¹910/21280/21. In 2024 year, the Kyiv Commercial Court refused the Fund, but the Northern Antimonopoly Economic Court resumed proceedings. The appeal hearing was scheduled for 8 September 2026 year.

Separately, other episodes regarding Lahun are being investigated. In 2021 year, he was informed of suspicion of embezzlement exceeding 1,1 billion UAH. Among the episodes is a loan of 450 million UAH to a related company, from which only part of the funds was returned. In a separate case regarding the withdrawal of more than $76,5 million, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv in October 2023 year announced Lahun wanted.

Lahun himself is in Austria and participates remotely in Ukrainian court proceedings. At the same time, he tried to pursue his own bankruptcy despite the creditors’ multibillion-dollar claims. The NBU opposed this procedure. In addition to the FGFO’s claims of 22,86 billion UAH, there was another case against Lahun for 791,2 million.

20 September 2025 year, Volodymyr Zelensky imposed ten-year sanctions on Lahun by the National Security and Defense Council at the initiative of the SBU. Journalists had previously disclosed data about his Russian citizenship. According to the published copy, Lahun’s Russian passport was issued in 2014 year by the Russian Migration Service division in the Zheleznodorozhnyi district of occupied Simferopol.

Lahun’s ties to Russia are not limited to the passport. Kirill Dmitriev, who later headed the Russian Direct Investment Fund, participated in creating Delta Bank. Lahun and Dmitriev were also linked through the use of back-to-back operations via Western banks.

After the collapse of Delta, Lahun retained a network of Ukrainian and foreign structures. Among the people named as managers of this system in investigations were Tarasiuk and Hutsaliuk. After sanctions were imposed, there began a process of re-registering companies, but assets and related structures remained under the scrutiny of journalists and law enforcement.

Now the investigation has obtained an archive, hundreds of seals, and originals of documents from more than 200 nonresident companies. Against this backdrop, separately cited are 22,86 billion UAH of FGFO demands, $437,2 million in operations through foreign banks, the episode of withdrawing more than $76,5 million, and a suspicion of embezzlement exceeding 1,1 billion UAH.