--- title: "The \"Carthage\" Case: How a Call Center Protection Racket Involving SBU, Police, and Prosecutor General's Office Officials Shook Ukrainian Prosecution" description: "NABU and SAPO uncovered the \"Carthage\" network, which protected fraudulent call centers involving officials from the SBU, police, and Prosecutor General's Office. Documented undue benefits exceeded 1 billion UAH." date: 2026-11-04T08:18:30.006Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/carthage-case-call-center-protection-racket tags: [nabu, sap, ukraine, corruption, karthage, prosecutors-office, call-centers] author: "Alexander Buran" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # The "Carthage" Case: How a Call Center Protection Racket Involving SBU, Police, and Prosecutor General's Office Officials Shook Ukrainian Prosecution ![Signage of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine on a gray granite building](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/04/nabu-sap-karfagen-kryshovanie-koll-centrov/nabu-sap-karfagen-kryshovanie-koll-centrov-1.webp) ## Key Points - NABU and SAPO exposed an organization that systematically provided undue benefits to incumbent SBU, National Police, and Prosecutor General's Office officials to protect fraudulent call centers. - The investigation considers former PGO official Serhiy Kropyva as the organizer of the group, and one of the PGO department heads as the leader. - The amount of documented undue benefits exceeds 1 billion UAH; former PGO department head Ivan Tymoshenko was placed in custody with an 8 million UAH bail. - Due to the case, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko resigned, and on September 17, Anton Kovalskyi became acting Prosecutor General. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office have completed a large-scale investigation codenamed "Carthage". According to the investigation, an organized group operated across Ukraine, systematically providing undue benefits to incumbent law enforcement officials from the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police, and the Prosecutor General's Office. In return, members of the group guaranteed owners of fraudulent call centers and other illegal businesses protection from criminal prosecution and the blocking of investigations. According to NABU information, representatives of the criminal underworld also participated in the operation. ### What is Operation "Carthage" "Carthage", as NABU explained, is a special operation against an organization that ran a protection racket for a network of illegal call centers throughout Ukraine. The scheme was built on monthly payments: owners of fraudulent structures contributed money and in exchange received a guarantee that criminal proceedings would not be initiated against their business and that ongoing investigations would be blocked. According to the investigators, it was precisely this mechanism that allowed call centers to operate unhindered for a long time. ### Who Led the Group The investigation considers Serhiy Kropyva, a former official of the Prosecutor General's Office, to be the organizer of the criminal group. The leader of the structure, according to NABU, turned out to be one of the heads of departments at the Prosecutor General's Office. The list of defendants also includes Serhiy Kutsyi, who, according to NABU and SAPO, is Kropyva's driver and participated in the group's activities from October 2025 to September 2026. He was later released from custody on bail of 3 million UAH. ### Amounts and Court Decisions On October 22, NABU served a notice of suspicion to Ivan Tymoshenko, former head of a department at the Prosecutor General's Office. According to the investigation, he was the one responsible for liaising with illegal call centers, and the amount of documented undue benefits in the case exceeds 1 billion UAH. On the same day, the High Anti-Corruption Court chose a preventive measure for Tymoshenko in the form of detention with the possibility of posting bail of 8 million UAH. At the same time, SAPO requested bail of 100 million UAH, while the defense requested 2 million UAH. ### Political Consequences: Kravchenko's Resignation The "Carthage" case resulted in a personnel crisis in the Prosecutor General's Office. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko publicly stated that he did not intend to cling to his position and would resign if asked by the president or the Verkhovna Rada; according to him, seven employees of the Office were suspended due to the case. Subsequently, Kravchenko signed a notice of suspicion against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos, and parliament supported his dismissal. On September 17, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entrusted the duties of the Prosecutor General to Anton Kovalskyi, head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor's Office, who in his first statement promised to complete official and personnel procedures regarding prosecution employees initiated in connection with Operation "Carthage" audio recordings. ### Chronology and Context The first public comments on the case appeared on September 7, the day after scandalous audio recordings were published. On September 14, NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and the head of SAPO held a briefing revealing additional details of the case, including the issue of SBU involvement. As of November 4, 2026, the investigation is ongoing, and the personnel consequences of Operation "Carthage" continue to shape the configuration of Ukraine's law enforcement vertical. ## Fact-Check & Sources - [Дело "Карфаген": НАБУ назвало причастными чиновников СБУ, полиции и ОГП](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/sprava-karfagen-nabu-nazvalo-prichetnimi-1793779647.html) - Primary source; contains all key facts: protection scheme, defendants (Kropyva, Kutsyi, Tymoshenko), amounts (1 billion UAH, bails of 3/8/100/2 million UAH), Kravchenko's resignation, and Kovalskyi's appointment on September 17. - [Кравченко заявил, что уйдет в отставку, но есть условие: новые детали дела "Карфаген"](https://focus.ua/ukraine/766970-delo-karfagen-kravchenko-uydet-v-otstavku-po-trebovaniyu-zelenskogo-ili-rady) - Confirms Kravchenko's public comments from September 7: no intention to resign unless asked by the president or Rada; seven employees suspended. - [Угроза для Зеленского: чем чревато новое коррупционное дело «Карфаген»](https://www.mk.ru/politics/2026/09/07/ugroza-dlya-zelenskogo-chem-chrevato-novoe-korrupcionnoe-delo-karfagen.html) - Foreign publication; used only as secondary context that NABU and SAPO uncovered the call center protection system. Not a basis for key facts. - [Участие СБУ и следы РФ: НАБУ и САП раскрыли подробности дела Кравченко и "Карфагена" (видео)](https://focus.ua/ukraine/767683-delo-karfagen-nabu-i-sap-ne-vruchali-podozreniya-ot-kravchenko-podrobnosti) - Confirms the briefing by Kryvonos and Klymenco on September 14 regarding the Kravchenko and Carthage case. ## FAQ ### What is Operation "Carthage"? It is a special NABU operation against an organization that ran a protection racket for a network of illegal call centers across Ukraine, providing undue benefits to incumbent law enforcement officials in exchange for protecting businesses from criminal prosecution. ### What is the amount of documented undue benefits in the case? According to the investigation, the amount of documented undue benefits exceeds 1 billion UAH. ### Who is acting as Prosecutor General after Kravchenko's departure? On September 17, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy entrusted the duties of the Prosecutor General to Anton Kovalskyi, head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor's Office.