In Kyiv, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) have detained an attorney suspected of attempting to extort $5 million to arrange the dismissal of a pending criminal investigation. According to law enforcement sources and entries in the National Register of Advocates, the suspect is Valeriy Kudryavtsev. Kyiv’s Pecherskyi District Court has ordered him held in custody until November 2, setting bail at 66.56 million UAH.
Investigators state that the attorney offered to «resolve» legal troubles for a suspect accused of fraud, document forgery, and money laundering who is currently residing abroad. In exchange for $5 million, the lawyer promised to leverage personal influence within law enforcement to shield the suspect from being placed on Interpol’s international wanted list and to prevent the freezing of his assets and bank accounts.
Law enforcement officers apprehended the suspect at a bank branch in the Pecherskyi district while he was accepting an advance payment of $3.8 million. To conceal the transaction, the attorney had pre-ordered an equivalent amount of cash at the institution, intending to swap the banknotes immediately to impede evidence collection.
«The attorney guaranteed that his client would face no further prosecution and that his details would not be submitted to Interpol,» stated the SBU press service.
Criminal proceedings No. 42026000000000888 were formally initiated on July 8, 2026, though details remained undisclosed until the court issued the detention order on September 4.
Public registers show that the suspect serves as executive and beneficial owner of MUC Grandest LLC and MFPC KV Group LLC, alongside links to Femida LLC. Despite registering his primary practice in Kyiv’s Pecherskyi district, public court schedules reveal almost no record of his appearance as counsel in judicial proceedings since 2017.
The attorney has been served a notice of suspicion under Part 3, Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of influence). The statutory penalty carries up to eight years in prison with confiscation of property. Pre-trial investigations remain ongoing to identify potential accomplices.