HACC remands First Deputy Chief of National Police's Strategic Investigations Department Tsenov in 'Carthage' case: 15 million UAH bail

On November 5, 2026, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) in Kyiv (42-A Khreshchatyk St.) reviewed a motion for a pre-trial restriction for Volodymyr Tsenov, First Deputy Chief of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of Ukraine. The court ordered him to be held in custody until January 3, 2027, with the alternative of posting a 15 million hryvnia bail. Tsenov is suspected of participating in a criminal organization and receiving unlawful benefits.

Who is "Price"

According to the investigation, Tsenov appears under the pseudonym "Price" on audio recordings released by NABU. This pseudonym, according to sources in law enforcement, was mentioned in previously published materials regarding the "Carthage" case. Investigators believe Tsenov was responsible for police protection of fraudulent call centers on behalf of the Strategic Investigations Department. According to the SAPO, another suspect in the case, Osipov, was tasked with concealing criminal activity and recruited Tsenov into the organization no later than January 5, 2026. "From 05.01.2026 to 27.07.2026, there was close communication between them, which consisted of Osipov sending a list of call center addresses, where he specified the address, location, number of employees, square footage of the premises, and law enforcement agencies, in particular the DSI of the National Police, took measures to avoid conducting investigative actions or searches," the case files state.

Scale of the investigation

The "Carthage" case covers, according to the investigation, 52 fraudulent call centers, as well as drug trafficking, manufacturing of counterfeit currency, kidnapping, and torture. The exposed organization included, according to available data, at least 12 people, including current officials of the SBU, National Police, and the Office of the Prosecutor General. On the morning of November 4, NABU and SAPO announced the exposure of a structure that bribed high-ranking law enforcement officials to facilitate the uninterrupted operation of fraudulent call centers and other illegal businesses. In the evening of the same day, 54-minute audio recordings and videos from the case tapes were released.

Chronology: from the first suspects to Tsenov's detention

The first names of the suspects became known on September 5, 2026: NABU and SAPO reported suspicion to the head of one of the departments of the Prosecutor General's Office, Serhiy Kropyva, and his accomplices for establishing a criminal organization that, according to the investigation, received money for non-interference in the work of call centers and legalized over 89.9 million hryvnias. On the same day, suspicion was reported to five people. On September 6, then-Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko publicly denied his involvement in "protecting" the call centers. On September 15, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved his dismissal after his resignation statement; the duties of the Prosecutor General were temporarily assigned to the head of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Prosecutor's Office, Anton Kovalskyi. On October 22, NABU reported suspicion to the former head of the department of the Prosecutor General's Office, Ivan Tymoshenko, for whom the HACC set detention with an 8 million hryvnia bail on the same day.

Tsenov's detention and SBU response

Tsenov's detention was reported on November 4 by the "Ukrainska Pravda" outlet, citing law enforcement sources. The detention occurred amidst the publication of new case materials. On the evening of the same day, NABU detained General Serhiy Duka, First Deputy Chief of the SBU's Department for the Protection of National Statehood. Following this, SBU Chief Oleksandr Poklad dismissed two high-ranking officials of the security service who had become suspects in the investigation and offered a suspect in the case nicknamed "The Mexican" to arrive in Ukraine voluntarily and surrender to law enforcement.

Procedural details

The hearing for Tsenov's pre-trial restriction was scheduled for November 5 at 14:00. The SAPO prosecutor, according to media, requested custody with an alternative bail of 20 million hryvnias; the court eventually set bail at 15 million hryvnias. The suspects are charged with protecting fraudulent call centers, drug trafficking, manufacturing counterfeit money, kidnapping, and torture. The HACC Appeals Chamber previously, on September 16, upheld the detention measure with an alternative bail of 120 million hryvnias for another suspect in the case—Deputy Chief of one of the departments of the Prosecutor General's Office Kropyva, who had requested a reduction in bail.