Months after Ukraine was shaken by a sweeping corruption probe into state nuclear giant Energoatom, and subject of international embarrassment given it even touched Zelensky’s office, former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko has now been formally charged – after authorities detained him while he was allegedly attempting to leave the country. Halushchenko had been suspended by Zelensky in mid-November, when news of the scandal first hit global headlines. On Monday, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced that Halushchenko faces formal charges of money laundering and participation in a criminal organization tied to what investigators call the Midas case or Operation Midas. The former Minister of Energy, Herman Galushchenko, Creative Commons “The former minister of energy (2021–2025) has been exposed for money laundering and participation in a criminal organization,” the joint statement said, adding that investigators have “expanded the circle of suspects.” The investigation is focused on members of the alleged network which established an investment fund in Anguilla (the British Overseas Territory in the Eastern Caribbean) in February 2021. …