Andriy Yermak, the former chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has formally dismissed multi million dollar corruption and money laundering allegations against him as entirely "unfounded". Yermak, 54, who was long considered the second most powerful man in Ukraine, issued a statement on Telegram following his court hearing at the High Anti Corruption Court of Ukraine. He emphasized that as a lawyer with over 30 years of professional experience, he intends to strictly use legal frameworks to defend his rights, his name, and his reputation. 

The legal confrontation escalated after Ukraine's National Anti Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) formally served Yermak with a notice of suspicion. Investigators allege that Yermak was part of an organized criminal ring that laundered 460 million hryvnias (approximately $10.5 million) through a high end luxury housing development project near Kyiv. The prosecution asserts that a portion of the laundered money originated from an extensive corruption scheme inside Ukraine's state owned nuclear energy monopoly, Energoatom.

Yermak originally resigned from his powerful administrative position in November 2025 immediately after anti corruption agents raided his private residence. The ongoing legal case represents the largest domestic corruption investigation of Zelenskyy's presidential tenure and has already ensnared several former cabinet ministers. Prosecutors have formally requested the anti corruption court to remand Yermak in pre-trial custody or set a substantial bail amount of 180 million hryvnias (around $4 million) as procedural steps continue.