Serhii Kropyva, the “Carthage” figure known as “the Chancellor,” had an extensive network of connections. According to the SAPO prosecutor, Kropyva had contacts with Oleksii Bondarev of the Office of the President; ties from his earlier work as deputy head of the Odesa RMA under Oleh Kiper; and influence over the State Tax Service through Ihor Panchenko, who — the investigation alleges — was appointed deputy head of the tax service specifically through the backing of Kropyva and Kravchenko.

As early as February 2, 2026, in a conversation with “the Muse,” Yelyzaveta Ivakhnenko, Kropyva effectively confirmed that he had been taking bribes back in his post at the Odesa RMA. After the Bihus.Info exposé on prosecutors buying apartments in Bukovel, he had Danylo Slipchuk check whether he himself had turned up in the material.

The prosecution calls the legalization scheme a classic one: illegal funds were put into real estate, registered to nominal owners — among them Kropyva's driver Kutsyi and his relatives — then rented out or sold. They also weighed a “cover story” about the Muse's parents earning money in Russia, and used cryptocurrency.

Investigators put the legalization at UAH 41.7 million during Kropyva's time at the Prosecutor General's Office and a further UAH 48.2 million during his time at the Odesa RMA.