SBU staff reportedly pressured to fund bail for General Serhii Duka in Karfagen case
Ukrainian media report that SBU employees are being pressed to contribute 50,000 to 150,000 hryvnias toward the 65 million hryvnia bail set for General Serhii Duka. The Security Service of Ukraine's senior official is in custody in the Karfagen corruption case, which investigators say involved bribes for enabling call-center fraud, euro counterfeiting and drug sales.
Key points
- The High Anti-Corruption Court set Duka's bail at 65 million hryvnias, with the general held in custody.
- SBU operational staff are reportedly required to contribute 50,000 hryvnias each.
- Heads of units, their deputies and heads of sectors are reportedly required to contribute 150,000 hryvnias each.
- Contributors must send screenshots of payment documents or receipts to their supervisors.
- Unit heads reportedly compile lists of contributors and report them to the SBU leadership in Kyiv.
- Duka was detained on November 4 and is suspected of involvement in a criminal organization in the Karfagen case.
- SBU employees received salary advances four days early on November 6, which sources linked to the bail fundraiser.
Why it matters
The reported collection raises questions about coercion inside the SBU and the possible use of agency resources to secure bail for a senior official. It also adds to scrutiny of alleged links between senior SBU figures and illegal business activity identified in the Karfagen case. If pressure and internal collection mechanisms are confirmed, they could affect cooperation, morale and institutional trust within the service. The reported link between the early salary advance and the collection may indicate coordination between the fundraiser and agency management.
What happened
On November 4, NABU detectives and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors announced that they had exposed a criminal organization and notified five participants, including SBU General Serhii Duka, of suspicion. According to investigators, the organization systematically paid bribes to senior law-enforcement officials in exchange for enabling fraudulent call centers, euro counterfeiting, drug sales and other illegal businesses. Duka was detained that day. The High Anti-Corruption Court later placed him in custody with the alternative of posting 65 million hryvnias in bail.
Ukrainian reports say SBU employees are being required to help cover that bail. Operational personnel are reportedly told to transfer 50,000 hryvnias, while unit heads, deputies and sector heads are asked for 150,000 hryvnias. The money is supposed to go directly to the court's account. Employees must provide screenshots of payment documents or receipts to their supervisors, and unit heads are said to be compiling lists of contributors for reporting to Kyiv. Staff who make payments are reportedly promised reimbursement in cash, although no timetable or mechanism has been disclosed.
During searches at Duka's home, Alpha fighters were seized. Duka allegedly threatened detectives with a weapon and destroyed phones and a hard drive with a hammer. Staff of the Alpha unit reportedly tried to evacuate him during the search. On November 6, SBU employees were paid salary advances four days ahead of schedule, which sources linked to the bail collection.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian reporting focuses on the alleged internal SBU mechanisms used to raise bail money: differentiated contribution amounts, required proof of payment, lists of contributors and reporting to Kyiv. Journalists also examine Duka's conduct during his detention, including his resistance during the search and reported efforts to obstruct anti-corruption investigators and Bihus.info investigative journalists alongside Anton Kravchuk, head of the SBU's Main Internal Security Directorate.
Background
On November 4, NABU detectives and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors exposed a criminal organization and announced suspicions against five participants in the Karfagen case, including Duka. Investigators allege that the organization systematically paid bribes to senior law-enforcement officials in exchange for enabling fraudulent call centers, euro counterfeiting, drug sales and other illegal businesses.
Other people involved in the case include Volodymyr Tsenov, who was granted the option of bail and for whom 15 million hryvnias was posted on November 6, and Vitalii Rybalko, known as “the Boxer,” who was detained without the option of bail. Ukrainian media also report that Duka and Anton Kravchuk, head of the Main Internal Security Directorate, oversaw a coercive operation against anti-corruption detectives and Bihus.info investigative journalists, and that they positioned themselves under SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad following Vasyl Maliuk's resignation. The Anti-Corruption Action Center said new military ranks awarded to Duka and Kravchuk were rewards for attacks on the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecution and NABU in the summer of the previous year, and that the president bears full responsibility for the actions of the SBU's security leadership.