Investigation probes fund extraction scheme by former Delta Bank owner Mykola Lagun

Financial liabilities and the status of the former banker

Mykola Lagun, who previously controlled Delta Bank, is currently abroad and is subject to an international wanted list. The Deposit Insurance Fund is attempting to recover a total of 22.86 billion UAH from him and the former bank management. According to journalistic investigations, assets linked to the banker in one way or another generate up to $200,000 in cash monthly.

History of the collapse and the scale of losses

Delta Bank JSC (Unified State Register of Legal Entities code 34047020) was established on 14 February 2006. Prior to its collapse, Lagun owned 70.6% of the shares, while the American company Cargill held 29.4%. On 2 March 2015, the bank was declared insolvent. At that time, the volume of individual deposits stood at 31.5 billion UAH, and corporate funds at 12.5 billion UAH. The credit portfolio reached 45 billion UAH, refinancing from the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) was 9.3 billion UAH, and funds from state structures amounted to 8.4 billion UAH. The Deposit Insurance Fund was obliged to reimburse 16.3 billion UAH, and as of February 2024, it had paid out 15.9 billion UAH.

Offshore schemes and currency operations

In 2014, the bank purchased approximately $535 million for 4.1 billion UAH for 12 affiliated structures. Some of the operations were conducted through Baltic International Bank. The back-to-back mechanism involved Delta providing funds for loans to offshore companies, after which, when the funds were not returned, the bank lost the collateral. $87.3 million passed through Meinl Bank, and $50 million through Bank Winter. The total volume of operations through Meinl Bank, Bank Frick, East-West United and Bank Winter amounted to $437.2 million.

Court proceedings and criminal cases

In civil case No. 910/21280/21, the Fund is seeking the recovery of 22,861,522,608 UAH. Among the defendants are Mykola and Antonina Lagun, Olena Popova, Vitaliy Masura, Denys Tarasyuk, Marcin Figlus, Valentyn Zasuka and Yaroslav Porochniak. On 31 July 2024, the court dismissed the claim, and the appellate review has been postponed until 24 November 2026. Hearings are held in closed session due to bank secrecy. Separately, the Fund filed a claim for 791.2 million UAH in case No. 910/7338/19.

Criminal prosecution covers the extraction of $76.5 million, embezzlement of over 1.1 billion UAH, and tax fraud. Case No. 761/8406/23 concerns the transfer of $76.5 million to a non-resident. Proceedings No. 761/25125/23 include a loan to an affiliated company of 450 million UAH, of which only 200 million was repaid. On 22 October 2024, Lagun was placed on the international wanted list in tax case No. 372/1505/23 (proceedings No. 12021000000000940), related to securities. In 2023, the banker attempted to declare personal bankruptcy with billion-scale debts to the NBU, Oschadbank and Ukreximbank.

New proceedings and asset seizures

On 4 May 2026, proceedings No. 42026000000000563 were opened under Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code (legalisation of criminal proceeds). The investigation is examining the registration of over 300 hectares of land in the name of nominees (straw persons) in Kyiv, Chernihiv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, as well as real estate, vehicles, securities and corporate rights in Ukraine, Poland and Cyprus.

Asset management is linked to former bank employees Maksym Chernov, Denys Tarasyuk and Anna Hutsaliuk. Hutsaliuk controls 94% of Biright Advocacy (Unified State Register of Legal Entities code 41740126), previously co-owned by Tarasyuk; other participants are Iryna Tsvira and Oleksiy Huk. In 2025, the partnership reported revenue of 1.072 million UAH and a loss of 365,800 UAH. Following sanctions against Agro Green Management (Unified State Register of Legal Entities code 45151539), it transferred from British PE Investments Limited to Tetyana Kuzub on 30 July 2025, after which it changed its name to Respen and its address to Kherson. On 11 August 2026, the court refused to seize the rights of Respen and Biright Advocacy.

Searches and crypto assets

During searches of premises linked to Chernov and Tarasyuk, hundreds of seals, bank archives and documents of over 200 foreign companies were seized. The investigation froze crypto wallets of eight individuals on the Binance platform, linked to Nest Exchange, Nest Clearing and Custody, and Nest Trading Limited, as well as Revolut cards and accounts at Wise, Monese, Erste Bank and Ziraat Bankasi. A scheme involving the transfer of rental income into cryptocurrency, with subsequent investment in real estate, is being examined.

A court ruling in case No. 752/18878/26 dated 11 August 2026 records the seizure of corporate rights: Concept Holding (39560773) — 235.69 million UAH, Krem-1 (36148777) — 169.51 million, Agalem (36425844) — 142.99 million, TM Holding (35921110) — 74.15 million, and Aris Fund (38518280) — 51.8 million. These amounts reflect the nominal value of the rights, not the proven damage.