Ukraine's former energy minister was detained while trying to leave the country, authorities said on Sunday.
German Galushchenko, who was forced to resign last year when he was among the officials named in a corruption scandal, was reportedly detained while on a train leaving Ukraine, the BBC reports.
He is one of several government officials implicated in an alleged $100 million embezzlement in November.
The scandal threatened to engulf the administration of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who came to power before the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on a promise to root out corruption.
Zelensky's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, his closest advisor during the war, resigned when his home was raided. Neither the president nor Yermak have been accused of any wrongdoing.
The scandal, however, has increased pressure from the US to hold the elections, which have been suspended since the start of the war in February 2022 due to provisions in the Ukrainian constitution.
Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said today that its detectives detained the former energy minister as he crossed the state border "as part of the Midas case."
Galushchenko was not explicitly named, but was mentioned by a number of prominent Ukrainian media outlets.
Galushchenko briefly served as justice minister, a position he held when Zelensky asked him to resign in November, having previously served as energy minister for three years. His successor, Svitlana Hrynchuk, also resigned amid suspicions of involvement in the scandal.
NABU did not provide additional information about Galushchenko's detention.
Radio Free Europe reports that he was transported to Kiev for further questioning, after border guards were told to notify authorities if he tried to escape.
The major anti-corruption investigation dubbed Operation Midas is the culmination of 15 months of investigation conducted by NABU and another anti-corruption body in Ukraine – the Special Prosecutor's Office for Combating Corruption (SAP).
They accused several individuals of organizing money laundering in the Ukrainian energy sector, including at the national nuclear operator Energoatom.
Galushchenko was among those who allegedly systematically took bribes from those who concluded contracts with Energoatom worth 10 to 15 percent of the contract value.
It was also stated that huge sums of money were laundered in the scam, and the funds were then transferred outside Ukraine, including to Russia, NABU reported.
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