Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) said on Sept. 5 they had uncovered an alleged criminal organization led by a senior official at the Prosecutor General's Office that protected fraudulent call centers and laundered millions of hryvnias.Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko could be implicated in the case. The Prosecutor General's Office confirmed on Sept. 5 that searches were conducted in his office as part of the investigation. The case comes amid a series of high-profile NABU investigations, including probes involving Zelensky's former deputy chief of staff Iryna Mudra and former Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, as well as the major Energoatom corruption case.NABU did not publicly name the alleged organizer, identifying him only as a head of one of the Prosecutor General's Office's structural units.On Sept. 4, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent that NABU had detained Serhiy Kropyva, a deputy head of the international cooperation department at the Prosecutor General's Office, in connection with the case. According to investigators, the official created the group in mid-2025, recruiting serving prosecutors and associates outside the Prosecutor General's Office.The group allegedly received systematic bribes in exchange for allowing fraudulent call centers to operate without interference. The call centers targeted both Ukrainian citizens and foreigners, investigators said.According to NABU, operating fraudulent call centers is one of the most profitable forms of criminal activity in Ukraine.The proceeds were then allegedly laundered through property purchases, third-party ownership schemes, and bank accounts belonging to associates.Criminal proceedings in an investigation by Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies into a criminal group that protected scam call centers and was allegedly led by a top official in the Prosecutor General’s Office, published on Sept. 5, 2026. (NABU)Investigators said more than Hr 20 million ($450,000) was spent on real estate, jewelry, and other valuable property.Assets worth at least Hr 12 million ($270,000) were allegedly registered in the names of third parties to conceal their true ownership, including property in an apartment complex near the Carpathian Mountains.Another Hr 10 million ($225,000) was placed in bank accounts belonging to associates and presented as legitimate income from business activities, according to NABU and SAPO.Five alleged members of the organization have so far been identified.According to investigators, the official leading the group worked on behalf of and received protection from someone identified as the "boss." His patronymic appears to be Andriiovych, according to the recordings released by NABU.Within the formal structure of the Prosecutor General’s Office, a top prosecutor could report directly to Prosecutor General Kravchenko, whose patronymic is Andriiovych. NABU did not directly implicate Kravchenko in the case.Kravchenko was reportedly out of contact for more than 12 hours before ZN.UA sources said later on Sept. 5 that he had been found at a Kyiv clinic.Despite earlier denials, the Prosecutor General's Office confirmed that NABU detectives had conducted overnight searches in offices used by Kravchenko, his first deputy, and other employees. The office said it would cooperate with the investigation and was considering dismissing the employee allegedly involved in the call center scheme.At the same time, the office questioned the justification for the searches, saying the court materials contained no direct evidence that Kravchenko had ordered anyone to protect fraudulent call centers, obstruct investigations, warned suspects about planned investigative actions, received illicit funds, or benefited from proceeds allegedly linked to the scheme.The office said the sufficiency of the evidence used to authorize searches of the Prosecutor General's offices therefore required separate legal assessment.