Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has often been the target of false information regarding his assets amidst the ongoing Ukraine–Russia war, during which Ukraine has received both financial and military support from Western nations. Although Zelenskyy’s alleged foreign assets have surfaced multiple times, the claim that he spent one billion euros to purchase the French investment bank Milleis Banque Privée is false. No evidence of such a financial transaction exists, and representatives of the bank have confirmed that it has not been sold to the Ukrainian leader.
“Aha! Zelenskyy from Ukraine used leftover snack money to buy shares in a major French bank worth 43 billion baht… Oh dear, working so hard to make money,” a Facebook page captioned in a post on March 6, 2025.
The post also shared a link from Blockit, which added: “French media reported that Zelenskyy, the former Ukrainian leader who has refused to step down after his term ended, used his nominee company, Maltex, to purchase shares in Milleis Banque, one of the largest banks in France.”
Such platform also circulated a French-language video that appeared to be a report from a station called “TV12”, claiming that a company linked to Zelenskyy purchased the bank for 1.1 to 1.25 billion euros (approximately 40 billion baht).
Posts sharing the same claims also appeared in other Thai-language posts, like here, as well as in other languages such as English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Dutch.
Additionally, similar posts were found on several news websites, such as Russia Today, a Russian government media outlet, and networks of websites accused by the French government of frequently spreading pro-Russian information have circulated these claims.
These posts are yet another example of false information targeting Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials. Previously, he was falsely accused of using state funds to purchase luxurious properties or spending extravagantly on expensive goods.
In 2021, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed that before Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected president in 2019, he had transferred shares in Maltex Multicapital Corporation—a company registered in the British Virgin Islands—to his business partner and advisor. (Recorded Link)
The report was based on the Pandora Papers, a collection of leaked financial documents from offshore financial service providers. Although Zelenskyy transferred his shares, dividends from the company continued to be paid to another company owned by his wife.
However, AFP found no evidence indicating that Maltex had purchased a French bank.
The bank was not sold.
In 2017, the British financial firm AnaCap Financial Partners acquired Milleis Banque Privée from Barclays. It later merged with another investment services company, becoming the third-largest independent wealth management firm in France. (Recorded links: here and here).
A spokesperson for Milleis Banque Privée confirmed that the bank has not been sold to Maltex and that AnaCap remains the majority shareholder.
“Milleis Banque Privée is aware of the false information circulating on social media. We categorically deny these claims,” the bank’s spokesperson said in French via email on March 12, 2025.
Similarly, a spokesperson for AnaCap conveyed the same message to AFP.
Additionally, no official records of any sale or ownership transfer of Milleis Banque Privée were found in France’s civil and commercial announcements, which serve as official references for financial transactions.
The French trade registry database and the company’s website also show that AnaCap’s managing partners remain on the board of Milleis Banque Privée. (Recorded Link here and here).
Nicolas Hubert, CEO of Milleis Banque Privée, stated in an interview with Le Figaro in February 2025 that AnaCap is “not in a hurry to sell its shares” and emphasized that the bank will “maintain its identity” in the near future. (Recorded Link)
Nonexistent TV Station
AFP also discovered several irregularities in the video shared in the false post.
When AFP conducted a reverse image search using the “TV12” logo, which appeared in the top-right corner of the video, no information could be found about such a television station.
France previously had a channel called NRJ12, which was shut down on March 1, 2025, due to violations of media regulatory rules. However, the NRJ12 logo differs from the one shown in the video associated with the false claim.
The video also features an alleged audit document from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said to have been prepared for Maltex prior to the alleged transaction. However, a PwC spokesperson stated via email on March 11 that the document is “entirely fake.”
Company registry documents further confirm that Milleis Banque Privée employs Ernst & Young in London and Forvis Mazars in Paris as its legal auditors. (Recorded Link)
The false video post also repeatedly uses the music theme from BBC News. (Recorded Link)
The format of this video is similar to claims investigated by AFP in December 2024, which accused Zelenskyy of purchasing a ski resort in France through a nominee company. That video also used the logo of a non-existent television station, displayed forged documents, and misused information from the Pandora Papers.
AFP has investigated claims related to the war in Ukraine. You can read more about it here.
Information Source: AFP
