Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Representatives of the Security Service likely conducted searches in the offices and residences used by nominal directors and formal beneficiaries of the companies of former owner of the bankrupt Delta Bank, Mykola Lagun. This is reported by Korotko.Pro, citing its own sources. "Searches were conducted as part of the investigation of criminal proceeding 42 026 000 000 000 560 concerning money laundering on an especially large scale. Threads from the ‘pounds’ could well lead to new episodes — regarding facilitation of sanctions evasion and money laundering through cooperation with Russians," Korotko.Pro writes and adds that the procedural actions concerned legalization of funds obtained by criminal means. "Searches were carried out on Laguna’s shadow asset managers in Ukraine, accounts were frozen. An archive of documents was found that testify to schemes of the former management of Delta Bank; several hundred seals of legal entities and original (including registration) documents of more than two hundred non-resident companies," Korotko.Pro reports, citing its own source in law enforcement. As the media wrote, Mykola Lagun and his associates for several years siphoned depositors’ funds from the financial institution through sham companies to offshore accounts, issuing fictitious loans that no one intended to repay. "The NBU removed Delta Bank from the market in 2015 and since then numerous court proceedings have been ongoing — both commercial and criminal. During that time Lagun was handed several suspicions, detained, and after the start of the full-scale invasion he moved to Austria under the pretext of medical treatment, where he now resides. In 2024 he was declared internationally wanted, and in 2025 personal sanctions were imposed on him due to facts of cooperation with Russia," Korotko.Pro writes. Korotko.Pro notes that the media have repeatedly written that Lagun continues to control a number of assets in Ukraine, in particular land plots for recreational development in Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, as well as real estate objects in occupied Crimea. "According to the media, a back office headed by Maksym Chernov helps him manage projects in Ukraine, as well as a law firm associated with Denys Tarasiuk — the former director of the legal department of Delta. He is also one of the co-defendants in the case about causing losses to the state of 23 billion UAH in a suit by the Deposit Guarantee Fund. It was on this episode that the National Police opened proceeding 42 026 000 000 000 560 concerning money laundering of funds obtained by criminal means on an especially large scale. The sanction of the corresponding article of the Criminal Code provides for punishment of up to 12 years’ imprisonment," Korotko.Pro writes. It is noted that the searches may provide additional evidence in another case 761/25125/23, which has been heard in court since 2023. It concerns the embezzlement of 250 million UAH by structures affiliated with Delta Bank: in 2012−13 Lagun, according to investigators, ordered the issuance of a loan of 450 million UAH to one of the connected companies, only 200 million UAH was repaid. This is one of the episodes of an even larger case of embezzlement of more than 1,1 billion UAH, for which Lagun was notified of suspicion back in October 2021. At that time, as the media wrote, the document was handed to the ex-banker personally at his villa in the capital’s suburbs. "The searches carried out may cause a ‘butterfly effect,’ bringing to light not only schemes from 14 years ago but also more recent schemes. For example, the real structure of corporate governance of Lagun’s empire after his departure to Austria. One direction of the investigation may be the alleged payment of more than $ 100 million in a London court claim to the owners of the Foxtrot electronics supermarket chain. Lagun lost that dispute back in 2024, spending more than 2 million pounds just on lawyers. At the same time he tried to file for personal bankruptcy in Ukraine," Korotko.Pro writes and adds that this may also reveal the real structure of other Lagun connections, since the company networks previously exposed began some time ago to transfer assets to citizens of Central Asian countries. In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt has been proven in accordance with the law and established by a guilty verdict of a court. Earlier it was reported that co-owner of Delta Bank Mykola Lagun tried to challenge in court the NSDC sanctions and Zelensky’s decree, and also began withdrawing ‘pounds’ from a number of sham businesses.
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