President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former right-hand man, Andriy Yermak, appeared in a Kyiv court on Tuesday after being named by Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies as a suspect in a money-laundering scheme.

Yermak’s lawyer had earlier denounced as “baseless” the allegations that the former head of the presidential office had been caught up in a corruption scandal surrounding a €8.9m ($10.5m) luxury construction project outside Kyiv.

Hours before the court hearing, Yermak told reporters: 

I do not have a house; I only have one flat and one car.

Ukraine’s Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) stated that it is asking the Kyiv court to either place him in preventive detention or set bail at approximately €3.4 ($4m).