[Cortes Investigates] Volodymyr Zelensky’s top aide Andriy Yermak is now charged with criminal corruption in Ukraine. Yermak was so close with Zelensky that he has been known as his "shadow" and widely regarded as the co-president, who often dictated strategy, more than Zelensky himself.Now, the "shadow president" looks at years in prison for laundering money through a dirty real estate scheme. These new charges flow from the Operation Midas scandal, so named because the oligarchs, who stole over $100 million from the public wartime treasury of Ukraine, used some of their ill-gotten loot to purchase a toilet made of gold.
These mafia-like figures formed the inner circle of Zelensky’s team, both inside government and within the business realm of connected Ukrainian oligarchs. They have nicknames like "Sugarman" and "Che Guevara." The opulent housing development which implicates Yermak is called "Dynasty" after the 1980’s U.S. hit TV show.
But unlike Blake Carrington, these thieves did not earn their fortunes, they stole their bounty.
Even the ardently pro-Zelensky US legacy media platforms recognize the tragic comic absurdity of the criminal culture all around Zelensky. The New York Times even posted a headline: "Move Over, Netflix: Ukraine’s Corruption Investigators Bring the Drama."