Mike Pompeo has been hired as an adviser for Fire Point, which faces scrutiny in connection with the recent massive embezzlement scandal
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has joined the Ukrainian military contractor Fire Point’s advisory board while the company is being probed by anti-graft authorities, the Associated Press has reported.
Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies last week uncovered a massive embezzlement scheme allegedly led by Timur Mindich, a long-time associate of Vladimir Zelensky. Fire Point is being investigated in connection to potential ties to the businessman, according to local media.
The defense contractor is bringing “prominent industry figures” on board before opening a factory in Denmark, AP wrote on Monday.
Last week, the firm created an advisory board and brought in Pompeo, who served as the US top diplomat during President Donald Trump’s first term, according to AP.
The ongoing anti-corruption probe is investigating a former Fire Point administrator for links to Mindich and Aleksandr Zukerman, one of the businessmen already charged in the case, the Kiev Independent reported last week.
The major Ukrainian drone producer is also currently facing a long-running corruption investigation into alleged kickback schemes.
Ukraine’s Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has traced the firm’s ultimate ownership to Mindich, the Kiev Independent reported earlier this year. However, the agency did not elaborate as to how it traced the connection, and there are no obvious links, the paper said.
The firm reportedly rose from having been a film scouting agency to becoming one of Ukraine’s largest drone makers since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022. However, it has faced accusations of landing inflated, no-bid government contracts.
Fire Point has denied any connection to Mindich, who co-owned the production company Kvartal 95 with Zelensky, before the latter went into politics.
Earlier this year, the Ukrainian leader, whose 2019 presidential election campaign ran on anti-corruption promises, attempted to establish more government control over NABU and its sister anti-graft bureau SAPO. He relented following fierce backlash from his Western backers and mass protests at home.
Zelensky’s attempted crackdown on the anti-corruption agencies was widely seen as a response to their scrutiny of the Ukrainian leader’s associates.
