Carthage case: detention without bail until 2 January
The court remanded an alleged organiser’s subordinate in custody. SAPO confirmed the ruling and its duration but did not identify the suspect by name.
On 5 November 2026, Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court remanded a suspect in the Carthage case in custody: a subordinate of the alleged organiser of a criminal organisation. The court did not provide a bail option. The Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) confirmed the ruling. The pretrial measure runs until 2 January 2027.
Updated on 7 November 2026: the outcome of the hearing, the absence of a bail option and the detention deadline have been clarified. The ruling was made on 5 November, not on the date of this update.
The previous version described the start of a pretrial measure hearing for Vitalii Rybalko, known as “Boxer”. A significant limitation remains: SAPO did not identify the detained subordinate by name. There is therefore still no official confirmation naming Rybalko as the person covered by the announced ruling.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and SAPO announced the exposure of the alleged organisation on 4 November. Investigators allege that a man with multiple previous convictions recruited serving senior officials from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Prosecutor General’s Office and the National Police, as well as figures from the criminal world. Investigators estimate that the organisation comprised at least 12 people.
On 5 November, NABU and SAPO served notices of suspicion on five people: the alleged organiser, a first deputy head of an SBU department, a head of a National Police department, a deputy section head in the Kyiv region police criminal investigation department, and the organiser’s subordinate. The official list does not give their names.
Investigators allege that members systematically bribed senior law enforcement officials to allow fraudulent call centres and other illegal businesses to operate unhindered. Prosecutors allege that, under this protection, the call centres defrauded Ukrainian citizens and foreigners; the organisation also facilitated drug sales and the production of counterfeit cigarettes and foreign currency. It is also alleged to have organised planned attacks, abductions and bodily injuries.
The investigation concerns not only alleged violence but also the role of officials whose powers, investigators say, were used to protect illegal businesses. These suspicions are not a verdict: each person’s guilt must be proved through lawful proceedings and established by a court.
The investigation continues. NABU and SAPO said they were taking steps to serve notices of suspicion on the other alleged members and urged witnesses to unlawful acts by law enforcement officers, including violence, to contact the two anti-corruption bodies.
Primary sources
Documents and statements this story is based on.