Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
200 thousand dollars in cash every month: how former «Delta Bank» owner Lagun keeps assets abroad
Former «Delta Bank» owner Mykola Lagun is abroad and has been placed on an international wanted list. The Deposit Guarantee Fund is seeking to recover 22,86 billion UAH from him and the former management. The investigation is probing the siphoning of funds through offshore companies, nominee firms, real estate and cryptocurrency. Assets linked to the banker, journalists estimate, generate up to $200 thousand in cash every month.
During searches, hundreds of seals and documents of more than 200 foreign companies were seized, reports Komentari.
PJSC «Delta Bank» (EDRPOU 34047020) was established on 14 February 2006. Lagun controlled 70,6% of the shares, Cargill — 29,4%. On 2 March 2015 the bank was declared insolvent. At the time of the collapse, individual deposits amounted to 31,5 billion UAH, corporate funds — 12,5 billion, the loan portfolio — 45 billion, NBU refinancing — 9,3 billion, funds of state entities — 8,4 billion. The Fund was to compensate 16,3 billion UAH; by February 2024 it had paid 15,9 billion.
In 2014 the bank purchased for 4,1 billion UAH about $535 million for 12 related structures, including transactions through Baltic International Bank. Under a back-to-back mechanism, «Delta» funded offshore loans, losing collateral when repayments failed. Through Meinl Bank passed $87,3 million, Bank Winter — $50 million. The total volume of operations through Meinl Bank, Bank Frick, East-West United and Bank Winter — $437,2 million.
The Fund is recovering 22 861 522 608 UAH in case No. 910/21280/21. Defendants — Mykola and Antonina Lagun, Olena Popova, Vitaliy Masiura, Denys Tarasiuk, Marcin Figlus, Valentyn Zasukha and Yaroslav Porokhniak. On 31 July 2024 the court denied the claim; the appeal was postponed until 24 November 2026, hearings closed due to banking secrecy. A separate Fund claim is 791,2 million UAH in case No. 910/7338/19.
Criminal proceedings cover the removal of $76,5 million, embezzlement of over 1,1 billion UAH and tax fraud. Case No. 761/8406/23 concerns a transfer of $76,5 million to a non-resident. Proceeding No. 761/25125/23 includes a loan to an affiliated company of 450 million UAH, of which 200 million was repaid. On 22 October 2024 Lagun was declared internationally wanted in tax case No. 372/1505/23, proceeding No. 12021000000000940, related to securities. In 2023 the banker attempted to file for personal bankruptcy with billion-level debts to the NBU, Oschadbank and UkrEximBank.
On 4 May 2026 a proceeding No. 42026000000000563 was opened under part 3 of article 209 of the Criminal Code — legalization of criminal proceeds. The investigation is checking registration to nominees of over 300 hectares of land in Kyiv, Chernihiv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, real estate, cars, securities and corporate rights in Ukraine, Poland and Cyprus.
The asset management is linked by investigators to former bank employees Maksym Chernov, Denys Tarasiuk and Anna Hutsaliuk. Hutsaliuk controls 94% of «Biright Advocacy» (EDRPOU 41740126); Tarasiuk was formerly a co-owner; other participants are Iryna Tsera and Oleksiy Huk. Over 2025 years the group reported 1,072 million UAH in revenue and 365,8 thousand UAH in losses. After sanctions, «Agro Green Management» (EDRPOU 45151539) on 30 July 2025 transferred from the British PE Investments Limited to Tetiana Kuzub, then changed its name to «Respen» and its address to Kherson. On 11 August 2026 the court refused to arrest the rights of «Respen» and «Biright Advocacy».
Searches at premises linked to Chernov and Tarasiuk yielded hundreds of seals, banking archives and documents of more than 200 non-residents. The investigation seized crypto wallets of eight people on Binance connected to Nest Exchange, Nest Clearing and Custody, Nest Trading Limited, Revolut cards and accounts at Wise, Monese, Erste Bank, Ziraat Bankasi. Authorities are checking transfers of rental income into cryptocurrency followed by investment into real estate.
A court order in case No. 752/18878/26 dated 11 August 2026 records the seizure of corporate rights: «Concept Holding» (39560773) — 235,69 million UAH, «Krem-1» (36148777) — 169,51 million, «Ahalem» (36425844) — 142,99 million, «TM Holding» (35921110) — 74,15 million, fund «Arys» (38518280) — 51,8 million. The sums reflect the nominal value of the rights, not proven damage.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "200 тисяч доларів готівкою щомісяця: як ексвласник «Дельта Банку» Лагун зберігає активи за кордоном". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.