{
  "id": 19981991,
  "title": "NABU tapes figure known as Mexican claims police took bribes to protect scam call centers in two-hour interview",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/14/nabu-tapes-figure-known-as-mexican-claims-police-took-bribes-to",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-14T12:55:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Voice of Ukraine",
    "slug": "new-voice-of-ukraine",
    "url": "https://english.nv.ua/nation/carthage-linked-call-centers-allegedly-paid-370m-in-bribes-50659176.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A person claiming to be Yehor Burkin, a key figure in the Carthage case, alleged in a two-hour interview with NABU, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, that fraudulent call centers in Ukraine allegedly paid $370 million in bribes to law enforcement to protect the operations. Burkin claimed that before Operation Carthage, there were around 1,500 such centers generating between $2 billion and $3 billion in annual revenue that went into the pockets of various officials. After the operation, approximately 80% to 90% of these centers were shut down. He also named several top-ranking officials who allegedly received payments, including Andriy Osipov, Oleksandr Kovalchuk, Serhiy Duka, and Serhiy Kropyva. Burkin estimated the total annual payments to law enforcement officials at $350 million to $370 million, with the money primarily coming in as cash and spent not only by the call center organizers and employees but also across related sectors.",
  "summary": "Fraudulent call centers exposed in Ukraine's Carthage operation brought in about $20 billion annually and allegedly paid $370 million in bribes to law enforcement, a person identifying himself as Yehor Burkin claimed in an interview on Nov. 14.",
  "key_points": [
    "Yehor Burkin claims $370M in bribes paid to police for call centers",
    "1,500 centers generated $2B-$3B annually before Operation Carthage",
    "80%-90% of centers shut down post-operation, 350M-370M annual payments"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}