"About two dozen guests showed up at Mindich's place, inside a luxury tower known around Kyiv as the Monster, where Zelensky also owned an apartment. The party, held in violation of pandemic lockdown orders, generated embarrassing headlines. The president was forced to answer questions about why the rules imposed on ordinary citizens did not seem to apply to him and his friends."
"Investigators have accused him of using the apartment as the headquarters (or, as they put it, the "back office") of a conspiracy to extort and launder about $100 million in bribes from companies in the electricity sector. Mindich was not at home when investigators arrived around dawn on November 10. A few hours earlier, at 2:09 a.m., he'd crossed the western border of Ukraine into Poland, having apparently been warned of the impending raid."
President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated a 43rd birthday at Tymur Mindich's apartment in the Monster tower in January 2021, a party that violated pandemic lockdown rules. Investigators say Mindich and his apartment served as the "back office" of a conspiracy to extort and launder about $100 million in bribes from electricity companies. Mindich was in Poland when investigators raided his home after apparently being warned. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine links the alleged kickback scheme to weakened efforts to protect the power grid and says it worsened blackout conditions. The probe has damaged public confidence in officials tied to the president.
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