A network of shell companies used for money laundering was uncovered in Mykolaiv

In Mykolaiv, a court granted investigators permission to seize documents from 29 companies as part of an investigation into the possible laundering of funds through shell companies. According to law enforcement officials, individuals who were merely nominal founders may have been used to register some of these companies.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

According to the investigation, two organizers of the scheme sought out people willing to register companies in their names without any intention of actually conducting business. False information was entered into the registration documents, and the newly created firms could have been used to launder illegally obtained funds.

The case files mention several nominal founders. Among them are a deceased woman, a military servicemember who has been listed as missing in action since April 2026, as well as individuals who had previously been convicted or were involved in criminal proceedings. According to law enforcement, dozens of companies were registered in their names over the years.

It turned out that one of the organizers of the money-laundering scheme not only found people willing to act as frontmen for the companies but also registered the businesses himself. As a result, the judge authorized the seizure of the companies’ documents.

Among the companies listed in the court order are Frontagro Pivden LLC, Consult Torg Service, Niknafta-19, “Adena-19,” “Leda Opt,” “Amalthea Opt,” and “Metida Opt.” According to OpenDataBot, Valery Tomenko is listed as the owner of these companies.

According to the YouControl analytical system, Andriy Garan is the director of “Consult Torg Service” and “Frontagro Pivden”; he also heads 219 companies and is the founder of another 204. 

According to the registry, the companies operate in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions and are engaged in the wholesale trade of grain, seeds, and feed; the cultivation of grain and oilseed crops; the sale of fuel; and freight transportation.

Last year, law enforcement uncovered financial fraud involving agricultural products worth nearly half a billion hryvnias. Businesspeople from the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions were involved in the schemes.

Анна Бальчінос