On June 10, DBR (State Bureau of Investigation) officers stopped a BMW SUV at a checkpoint on the Odesa highway near Kyiv. One of the passengers was Yevhen Borisov, former head of the Odesa regional TCC (Territorial Defense Recruitment Center) and Social Policy office. According to Suspilne and RBC-Ukraine citing law enforcement sources, investigators conducted searches as part of a criminal investigation into money laundering.

The scheme: from "white tickets" to a villa in Marbella

The scandal around Borisov began in spring 2023 — following publications revealing that he ordered subordinates not to conscript certain individuals in exchange for bribes. According to media reports, a "white ticket" cost approximately 5,000 euros. The DBR opened a case in May of that year.

In parallel, his asset background came to light: as Radio Liberty reports, the court transferred to ARMA's management a house of 857 square meters valued at 4 million euros and an office of 223.9 square meters worth 510 thousand euros in Spanish Marbella. Additionally, according to the investigation, Borisov's wife rented elite housing there for 5 thousand euros per month, and the family owned a fleet of Mercedes-Benz and Toyota vehicles worth over 15 million hryvnias. According to Wikipedia citing the investigation, the total amount of bribes was approximately $5 million.

"The Bureau received information that after paying bail, the suspect planned to leave the pre-trial detention facility and evade the investigation, including leaving the country"

— DBR, May 2024, during Borisov's repeated detention

Four cases — and constant bail releases

Borisov is involved in four criminal proceedings. The Prymors'kyi District Court of Odesa is examining two: regarding unauthorized absence from service and obstruction of lawful activities of the Armed Forces. Another case involves money laundering totaling over 140 million hryvnias (the indictment was submitted to court in March 2025). The fourth concerns the falsification of documents about "combat" injury — according to the DBR, Borisov obtained disability status he never actually had in order to receive additional benefits.

However, Borisov has repeatedly been released. Initially, bail was reduced from 150 million to 12 million hryvnias — and he was released, despite investigation data showing his intent to flee. In May 2024, he was detained again at the exit of the pre-trial detention facility. In September 2025, as TSN reports citing sources, bail of 44.4 million hryvnias was partially paid by lawyers Vitaliy Serdyuk and Oleksandr Babikov — the same ones who defended Viktor Yanukovych in court. Babikov also served as deputy head of the DBR in 2020.

• July 2023 — first detention, suspicion of illegal enrichment
• May 2024 — repeated detention at pre-trial detention exit, new suspicion of laundering 142 million hryvnias
• March 2025 — DBR completed investigation, indictment sent to court
• September 2025 — released on bail of 44.4 million hryvnias
• June 10, 2026 — new investigative actions: BMW stop, searches in money laundering case

What's next

New searches are taking place during court proceedings — meaning the DBR is either expanding its evidence base or conducting a separate investigation outside the transferred cases. If the Odesa court issues a guilty verdict in at least one of the cases, it will become the first real punishment in the resonant corruption case involving mobilization — a precedent Ukraine does not yet have.