A former colleague of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been implicated as the key figure in orchestrating a $100 million embezzlement plot.

Tymur Mindich, who previously partnered with Zelenskyy in business ventures, was named by Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities as the mastermind behind a scheme involving senior officials and the country’s state nuclear power enterprise. Before this scandal erupted, concerns were rising about Mindich’s increasing sway over Ukraine’s profitable sectors, a position he gained through his connection to Zelenskyy.

It’s alleged that Mindich wielded influence over loyal associates who then coerced contractors working with Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-operated nuclear firm, to pay kickbacks in order to navigate bureaucratic hurdles. These kickbacks reportedly reached amounts as high as 15%.

Although he shared a past with Mindich, Zelenskyy has not been linked to the investigation. In response to the anti-corruption body’s findings, the Ukrainian president imposed sanctions on his former business partner.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy engages in a briefing at the Office of the President after a staff meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on November 7, 2025. (Photo by Pavlo Bahmut/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

On Nov. 11, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) said that a group of individuals, including Mindich, “set up a major corruption scheme to control key state-owned enterprises,” including the country’s state-owned nuclear agency, the Kyiv Independent reported. The Ukrainian news outlet said that sources confirmed law enforcement searched properties tied to Mindich on Nov. 10, but he was tipped off and fled.

Mindich remains at large, with Politico reporting that he fled to Israel as the scheme unraveled and law enforcement zeroed in on him.

“Any effective actions against corruption are very needed. The inevitability of punishment is necessary,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a Coalition of the Willing meeting in London on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The NABU’s 15-month investigation allegedly involved 1,000 hours of wiretapping and resulted in 70 raids, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing the agency.

“What we were hearing only as rumors now has some evidence,” activist Tetiana Shevchuk of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center told The Associated Press. “For a long time we have heard that Tymur Mindich is a shadow controller of the energy sector.”

In addition to Mindrich, Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, who was Energy Minister from 2021 to 2025, was also raided, according to the Kyiv Independent, which cited sources.

Flamingo missiles are seen at Fire Point’s secret factory in Ukraine on Aug. 18, 2025. (Efrem Lukatsky, File/AP Photo)

Mindich was co-owner of Zelenskyy’s production company Kvartal 95, something that Shevchuk believes pushed him toward politics. The activist told the AP that Mindich “would have never been in politics, never been in a position of power or business without his connection to Zelenskyy, and this magnitude is worse because it’s happening during war time, and it is related to energy infrastructure at a time when Ukrainians don’t have electricity in their homes.”

This isn’t the only NABU investigation centered on Mindich. The anti-corruption agency is allegedly working on a probe into the former Zelenskyy associate’s dealings with Ukraine’s top drone manufacturer, Fire Point. However, NABU has yet to release its findings in that investigation.

Fox News Digital reached out to Zelenskyy’s office for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.